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| LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, \ 

I SA^ ______ -,X3 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 




/fr.87 



AUTHORITY IN THE NEW 
CHURCH. 



AUTHORITY IN THE 
NEW CHURCH 



BY THE 

Rev. R. L. TAFEL, A.M., Ph.D. 

MINISTER OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CHURCH, CAMDEN ROAD, LONDON 




PUBLISHED FOR THE 

(Sowrai Contention ot the |teto Jerusalem 

BY ITS BOARD OF PUBLICATION 
20 COOPER UNION, NEW YORK 

1877 



-pi 



0\ 



PREFACE. 

THE greater portion of the following pages was read 
before the Conference of New Church ministers in 
America which was held in Frankford, near Phila- 
delphia, during the first week of June 1876. After the 
reading, the following action was taken by the Con- 
ference : — 

"The Conference of Ministers having listened with great interest and 
attention to the reading of a large portion of Dr. Tafel's paper on 
' Authority in the New Church, ' it was unanimously resolved that the 
members of the Conference extend to Dr. R. L. Tafel their hearty 
thanks for his very thorough paper on ' Authority in the New Church,' 
and while regretting that time will not allow them to hear the whole of 
the paper, they would express an earnest desire that the paper may be 
set before the whole Church by publication ; and that Dr. Tafel may 
also find time [to edit and publish with the paper a full index to 
its contents. " 

By a subsequent resolution, a committee of three 
was appointed to carry out the purpose of the above 
resolution. This committee submitted the following 
motion to the decision of the Conference : — 

" On considering the subject referred to them, the Committee have 
come to the conclusion, in view of the importance of Dr. Tafel's paper, 
that it should be recommended for publication to the Board of Publica- 
tion. They therefore ask the signatures of the members of Conference 
to the request appended hereto. 

(Signed) J. R. Hibbard, j 

Joseph Pettee, ? Committee." 
T. A. Plantz, ) 



PREFACE. 



The request of the Committee resulted in the follow- 
ing application being addressed to the Board of 
Publication : — 

" The undersigned members of the Conference of Ministers respect- 
fully recommend the paper of Rev. R. L. Tafel on ' Authority in the 
New Church ' to the Board of Publication for publication. 

(Signed) Wm. B. Hayden. Sabin Hough. 
Joseph A. Lamb. 

N. C. BURNHAM. 

L. P. Mercer. 
Chauncey Giles. 
Willard G. Day. 
A. F. Frost. 
W. F. Pendleton. 
W. H. Mayhew. 
J. P. Stuart. 
E. C. Mitchell. 
Wm. M. Goodner. 
L. H. Tafel. 



F. H. Hemperley. 
Jabez Fox. 
S. S. Seward. 
Saml. M. Warren. 
Geo. F. Stearns. 
Chas. Hardon. 
J. E. Bovvers. 
J. W. Lever. 
Wm. H. Benade. 
W. H. Hinkley. 
F. W. Tuerk. 
Saml. Beswick." 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

PAGE 

ON AUTHORITY IN GENERAL, .... I 

CHAPTER II. 

THE DOCTRINES OF THE NEW CHURCH NOT HUMAN BUT 

DIVINE, ........ 15 



CHAPTER III. 

THE DOCTRINES OF THE NEW CHURCH IN THEIR RELATION 

TO THE WORD, . . . . . .21 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE DOCTRINES OF THE NEW CHURCH IN THEIR RELATION 

TO HUMAN REASON, .... -33 



CHAPTER V. 

THE DOCTRINES OF THE NEW CHURCH IN THEIR RELATION 

TO NATURAL SCIENCE, ..... 42 



CHAPTER VI. 

THE NATURE OF SWEDENBORG's INSPIRATION, 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER VII. 



PAGE 



SWEDENBORG CONSIDERED AS A TRANSLATOR OF SCRIP- 
TURE, ....... 155 

CHAPTER VIII. 

THE DOCTRINES OF THE NEW CHURCH IN THEIR RELATION 

TO HUMAN FREEDOM, . . . . 1 72 

CHAPTER IX. 

DOCTRINE TWOFOLD, OF GOD AND OF MEN, . . 1 94 



CHAPTER X. 

THE GENUINE USE OF REASON IN MATTERS OF THE 
CHURCH, ....... 



APPENDIX. 

SWEDENBORG ON THE LORD'S ADVENT, . . 255 

APPARENT CONTRADICTIONS IN THE WRITINGS OF THE 

NEW CHURCH, ...... 259 



265 



CHAPTER I. 

AUTHORITY IN GENERAL. , 

AUTHORITY is a necessary, yea, an indispensable 
consequence of order ; for order is an harmoni- 
ous arrangement of parts, of which those that are like 
are associated together or co-ordinated, and those 
which are lower are placed under or subordinated to 
those which are higher. 

The most perfect system of order, and hence the 
most perfect arrangement of parts, is presented by 
the human body, where like parts are associated or 
co-ordinated so as to compose the various members 
or organs of the body, and where the extremities are 
subordinated to the trunk or the body proper, and the 
body to the head. And as we are taught that every- 
thing in the natural as well as in the spiritual universe 
has reference to man, and hence to the human form, 
it follows that everywhere, both in the worlds of matter 
and of spirit, like parts are co-ordinated and lower 
parts subordinated to higher; whence it further fol- 
lows that the principle of co-ordination and subordina- 
tion is inherent in the very order of things, and that 
without this principle creation, and hence the worlds 
of matter and of spirit, would be an impossibility. 



2 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

Order, therefore, and hence the principle of co- 
ordination and subordination, in a true sense, is the 
very condition of our creation and our continued 
existence. This principle also, which includes an 
acknowledgment of the principle of authority, has 
been regarded from time immemorial as indispens- 
able to the welfare of the human race ; for everywhere, 
in all relations of life, whenever there is work to be 
done or danger to be averted, or whenever the wel- 
fare of mankind is to be placed on a firm and secure 
foundation, mankind instinctively introduce a form of 
order in which some parts are invested with the duty 
or the right of governing, and in which the duty of other 
parts consists in obeying. The principle of authority, 
therefore, has been acknowledged by mankind at all 
times as indispensable to its welfare, and as its only 
salvation from a state of anarchy and of public and 
private disorder. Upon order finally, and hence upon 
the proper co-ordination and subordination of parts in 
the natural and the spiritual universe, the very presence 
of the Lord in our midst depends ; for we read :— 

( i . ) " The Lord is order itself ; wherefore, wherever the Lord is 
present, there is order ; and [on the other hand] wherever there is order 
[i.e. wherever a just principle of co-ordination and subordination pre- 
vails], there the Lord is present " {A. C. 5703). 

The principle of authority, therefore, is a heavenly 
and Divine principle, and is inherent in the very order 
according to which the universe has been created ; 
and upon this principle the welfare of the Lord's 
kingdom in heaven and on earth, and thus the welfare 
of the Church upon earth, and notably the welfare of 



AUTHORITY IN GENERAL. 3 

the Lord's New Church upon earth, depend. In 
order, therefore, that the Lord's New Church may be 
established, and that it may prosper upon earth, it must 
have a distinct authority to which all its parts, i.e. all 
its members, must bow, and its welfare and prosperity 
depend altogether upon the obedience which its parts 
or members yield to this authority. 

As in heaven there is one Head, one Source of 
authority to which all the parts of heaven, i.e. all 
angels, bow, so also in the Church upon earth there 
must be one authority to which all the members of 
the Church must bow ; and in proportion as they 
bow to this one authority, they are in a state of order, 
and the Lord can be with them, and strengthen and 
establish the Church by their means. 

While acknowledging the necessity of a fixed 
authority in the Church, it may here be retorted 
that the Church which the Lord establishes among 
men is an internal state, that it is the conjunction 
of goodness and truth in the hearts of men which 
results from a proper subordination of man to his 
Maker ; but that this has nothing to do with an out- 
ward or external organization of men in this world, 
styling itself a Church, or claiming for itself the name 
of the Lord's New Church. 

A complete answer to this objection is furnished 
by the analogous case of the Lord's kingdom in 
heaven ; for heaven also is an internal state, or ac- 
cording to the Lord's words, "is within us," and 
according to the doctrines of the New Church this 
internal state is a conjunction of goodness and truth. 
But although heaven is an internal state, it is at the 



4 A UTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

same time an external organization ; wherefore Sweden- 
borg defines heaven (H. H. i) as composed of angels, 
and he thereby declares angels to be the parts of 
which heaven is the aggregate. 

On the same principle, we hold that although the 
Church is defined as an internal state resulting from 
a conjunction of goodness and truth in man, it is at 
the same time an external organization ; and we con- 
clude that as heaven is composed externally of angels, 
so the Church, or the Lord's kingdom upon earth, is 
composed externally of men. Yet according to the 
quality of the men such will be the quality of the 
external Church organization which they form, accord- 
ing to these words : — 

(2.) "The spiritual man is a Church in particular, and several 
together are the Church in general. Unless man in particular were 
a Church, there would not be a Church in general. The congregation 
in general is commonly called a Church ; but in order that it may be 
a Church, every one in the congregation must be a Church. Each 
general involves parts similar to itself" {A. C. 4292). 

From this extract it follows that the Church is not 
only an internal state in the individual, but also that 
it is an external organization formed of a plurality of 
individuals. These individuals, however, in order to 
be parts of the Church in general, must have the 
Church in themselves ; that is, they must be conjoined 
to the Lord by acknowledging Him as their authority, 
and by subordinating their own life to the Lord's life. 

Concerning the Church at large, we read that in the 
eyes of the Lord it appears as one man ; from which 
it follows that all those principles which apply to the 



A UTHORITY IN GENERAL. 5 

Church in the individual apply also to the Church at 
large. And from this it follows further, that as the 
Church in the individuals is established by their 
acknowledging the Lord as their authority, and sub- 
ordinating their own life to the Lord's life ; so, also, in 
order to establish the Church at large it is absolutely 
necessary that its members should have a fixed and final 
authority to which they all look, and by which they 
are willing to be judged, and which thus may become 
a common bond to unite the members of the Church 
in one homogeneous fraternity. 

The question now arises, Where, and what, is that 
ultimate authority to which all the members of the 
Lord's Church at large, and especially the members 
of the Lord's New Church, should look, and by which 
they ought to be willing to be judged ? 

It is unpopular to speak of an authority which New 
Churchmen as such ought to acknowledge. This ac- 
knowledgment of an authority, in the eyes of some, 
seems to conflict with the principle of spiritual free- 
dom which ought to prevail in the New Church, and 
which they see taught in its watchword, " Now it is 
allowable to enter intellectually into the mysteries of 
faith." And yet, unless the members of the New 
Church acknowledge one final and ultimate authority, 
and unless they are willing to conform the life of their 
will and of their understanding to this authority, the 
New Church will neither grow in them, nor will it 
grow in the general bodies or external organization 
which they form in conjunction with other men. 

The great power and strength of the Roman Catholic 
Church lies in this circumstance, that they have a 



6 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH 

common authority to which they all bow, and by 
which they all become soldiers of one grand army 
bent upon establishing their religion among mankind. 

Our purpose in adverting here to the strength and 
power of the Roman Catholic Church is a twofold 
one ; for, on the one hand, it furnishes an instance of 
the power a Church acquires when it acknowledges a 
final and ultimate authority, and, on the other, it 
furnishes a clue to the reluctance and opposition which 
some in the New Church have to such a final and 
ultimate authority in the Church. 

In the Roman Catholic Church the final authority 
in all matters belonging to the Church is a human 
being, whose utterances in respect to the Church are 
declared to be infallible, and thus of Divine authority ; 
and this is supposed to be the necessary and unavoid- 
able consequence of a belief in a final and ultimate 
authority in all matters pertaining to the Church. 
For this reason, also, such a determined resistance has 
been made of late to a regularly ordained ministry in 
the external New Church, every ordained minister 
being considered as a pope in disguise, or as a pope 
in a state of incipiency. 

All this opposition, however, we believe, arises from 
a misapprehension of the nature of the final authority 
in the Church. It is supposed that this final authority 
is claimed to be vested in the persons of the ordained 
ministers of the Church. We admit that this claim 
is set up in the Roman Catholic Church, and to some 
extent also in the Anglican Church, by the dogma of 
the Apostolic Succession. But we hold that this is a 
perversion of the true doctrine respecting authority 



AUTHORITY IN GENERAL. 7 

in the Church, and that this perverted doctrine has 
nothing whatever to do with the true doctrine. 

The true doctrine of authority in the Church leads 
its members into spiritual freedom, and not into 
spiritual slavery ; and the true authority of the Church 
is the very strongest bulwark against an abuse of its 
authority by those who administer the government of 
the Church in this world. 

We see, therefore, that there may be true order in f 
the Church or perverted order, and hence that there J 
may be a true principle of subordination and authority 
in the Church or a perverted principle. This differ- 
ence we shall now endeavour to point out. 

All authority in this world is exercised by persons ; 
so we read : — 

(3.) "Order cannot be preserved in the world without superiors or 
heads, whose duty it is to notice everything that takes place according 
to order and against order." And further — "Among the superiors, 
again, there must he order, lest any one at his good pleasure, or from 
ignorance, allow evils to take place which are opposed to order, and by 
which order is destroyed ; which is guarded against when there are 
superiors, higher and lower, in authority, among whom there is sub- 
ordination." And finally — "The superiors who have charge of the 
things of heaven, or of ecclesiastical things among men, are called 
priests, and their office is called the priesthood" (H. D. 312-314; A. 
C. 10,790-10,793). In like manner we read again — "The things of 
the world, or civil things, are administered by magistrates, and by kings 
where such forms of government exist" {H. D. 314). 

But does it follow from this that priests are the 
sources of authority and power in the Church, and 
kings and magistrates in the State ? Or does it fol- 
low from this that the will and the thought of the 
priests form the ultimate authority in the Church, and 



8 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

the will and thought of the magistrates and the king 
in the State ? This question is answered in the 
affirmative by the Roman Catholics, who believe in 
an infallible pope, whose will and thought is their 
authority in all matters pertaining to the Church ; it 
is also answered in the affirmative by those who be- 
lieve that bishops and priests assembled in conven- 
tions or convocations are infallible, and that the 
findings of such councils are the final and ultimate 
authority in the Church. 

This question is also answered in the affirmative on 
the civil plane by those who teach and uphold a per- 
sonal or despotic government, and who believe that 
the will and thought of the emperor or king is the 
final authority in matters of a civil or political nature. 

This question is, however, answered in the negative 
by the writings of the New Church, and by all those 
who believe what these writings teach ; and it is also 
answered in the negative by all those who believe that 
the law and the constitution of a land are an authority 
above the magistrates and the political rulers of a 
land, and who believe that the laws and the constitu- 
tion of a land are the ultimate and final authority to 
which every officer of the State and every governor of 
the land must bow. 

The law, and the sacred observance of the law, are 
the salvation of a land ; and where the laws of a land 
are administered fairly, honestly, and energetically, 
there the citizens live in peace, and there the power 
of malefactors and criminals is broken and annihilated. 
But where the laws are not respected, and where the 
balances of justice are in the hands of unprincipled 



AUTHORITY IN GENERAL. 9 

and ignorant men, there crime increases, and the 
interests of the public are sacrificed to the interests 
of individuals. In such a land order is inverted, and 
the servant is made the ruler, and the ruler the servant : 
for when true order prevails in a land the laws are 
the rulers, and the governors and prefects are the 
servants and executors of the laws ; but when true 
order is perverted in a land, then the officers and 
governors become the rulers, and the laws are the 
servants by which they enforce their wills. 

The same case has happened, and may happen 
again in the Church ; for in the Church also, as we 
have seen, power and authority are exercised by per- 
sons or individuals. If these persons regard the law 
of the Church as superior to themselves, and if they 
in all matters of the Church consult this law, and act 
strictly in accordance with this law, without looking 
either to the right or to the left, then these persons 
are good and faithful servants in the eyes of the Lord, 
and the Lord speeds the work of their hands, and 
blesses all their efforts in the establishment of His 
Church upon earth. 

But if the servants, i.e. the priests, make themselves 
superior to the law of the Church, either by denying 
that there is such a law, or by undermining and 
reasoning away its authority, in that case order in the 
Church becomes inverted, the servant becomes the 
ruler, and the ruler — that is, the law of the Church — 
becomes a mere instrument in the hands of the priests, 
by which they seek to establish their own rule over 
the members of the Church. Such has been the case 
in the first Christian Church ; it has become perverted 



io AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

and destroyed because its ministers and priests set 
themselves above the law of the Church, and so shaped 
and perverted it that by means of it their own autho- 
rity became established over the consciences of men. 
Such also will inevitably be the case in the New 
Church, unless it acknowledge a law which is above or 
superior to the persons of those who compose the 
Church, and its downfall will be hastened unless such 
a law be acknowledged and submitted to by those 
who are its governors and leaders. 

The question now arises, Is there such a law in the 
New Church to which both its clergy and its laity 
must bow ? 

If we ask this question of the natural man, he will 
at once answer that he acknowledges no law by which 
the consciences of men are to be bound ; for the 
natural man is impatient of restraint, and does not 
wish to be limited in the enjoyment of the natural 
loves of self and of the world. Nay, in order to prove 
the position that the consciences of men are free, the 
natural man goes to the writings of the Church, and 
fortifies himself with the statement, oft quoted of late, 
" Nunc licet ! — Now it is allowable to enter intellectu- 
ally into the mysteries of faith." 

If we ask this question of the spiritual man, who 
on all points of doctrine, i.e. on all points concerning 
the Church and man's spiritual welfare, goes to the 
writings of the Church, we obtain a different answer 
altogether. 

He first proves the necessity of a law as a final 
authority in the Church by referring us to T. C. R. 55, 
where we read : — 



A UTHORITY IN GENERAL. 1 1 

(4.) "Who cannot see that it is impossible for an empire, a 
kingdom, a duchy, a republic, a town, or a house to exist, unless 
it is established by laws which constitute the order and form of 
its government? In every one of these the laws of justice are in the 
highest place, those for the government of the State, or political laws, in 
the second, and those for the government of the houses, or economical 
laws, in the third ; and if they are compared to a human being, the 
laws of justice form the head, political laws the body, and economical 
laws the garments, wherefore also these like garments may be changed. 
With respect to the order, however, into which the Church has been 
established by God, this order is such that God must be in each and 
everything belonging to it, and this order must be exercised in respect to 
the neighbour. There are as many laws of this order as there are 
truths in the Word ; the laws which have respect to the Lord ought to 
constitute its head, those that have respect to the neighbour its body, 
and ceremonies ought to constitute its garments ; for unless the latter 
hold the former in their order, it would be as if the body were laid bare, 
and exposed to the heat in summer and to the cold in winter, or as if 
the walls and ceilings were taken away from a temple, whereby the 
sanctuary, the altar, and the pulpit, by being exposed for a long time, 
became a prey to various kinds of violence." 

From this passage we learn that there is no order 
without laws, and consequently that there can be no 
order in the Church without laws. We learn also that 
the laws of the Church, on the one hand, have respect 
to the Lord and to the neighbour, and thus to internal 
worship, and, on the other hand, to ceremonies, and 
thus to external worship. 

We further learn that there are as many laws of 
order in the Church as there are truths in the Word. 
We read further : — 

(5.) "As priests are the governors or heads who are to administer 
those things which belong to Divine law and worship, so kings and 
magistrates are the officers for the administration of those things which 
belong to civil law and to judgment. " And again — " The royal power 
consists in governing according to the laws of the land, and in judging 



12 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

according to them from a principle of justice. A king who has respect 
to the laws as above himself is wise ; but he who regards himself as 
superior to the laws is not wise. A king who has respect to the 
laws as above himself places the royal power or authority in the 
law, and the law rules over him; for he knows that the law is justice, 
and that all justice which is justice is Divine. But a king who regards 
himself as above the laws places the royal authority in himself, and 
thinks either that he himself is the law, or that the law which is justice 
is from himself. Hence he arrogates to himself what is Divine, when 
yet he ought to be subordinated to it" {H. D. 319, 322). 

There is exactly the same relation between the 
Divine law, or the law of the Church and the minis- 
ters, as there is between it and every other member of 
the Church. The law of the Church teaches them 
everything respecting internal and external worship ; 
and their duty as members of the Church consists in 
carrying out this law and in obeying it ; and they 
ought not to place themselves above the law of the 
Church, and to declare either that their own will is 
the law of the Church, or that the law of the Church 
is derived from themselves. Or, in other words, the 
members of the Church, and especially its ministers, 
must believe that everything respecting internal 
and external worship has been revealed to them 
from God out of heaven, and that nothing respecting 
internal and external worship must be derived from 
themselves. 

The downfall of the first Christian Church was 
caused by the men, and especially the ministers, of 
the Church placing themselves above the laws of the 
Church, all of which are truths from the Word, and 
by declaring that they themselves, i.e. the ministry of 
the Church, are in the place of a law to the Church ; 



A UTHORITY IN GENERAL. 1 3 

and further, that all the laws of the Church are de- 
rived from themselves. And to such a danger the 
Church of the New Jerusalem would be exposed by 
not acknowledging a law superior to itself ; i.e. a law 
which is not man-made, but which has been revealed 
from God out of heaven. 

The question now arises, Where is the law which 
both the clergy and the laity in the Church of the 
New Jerusalem ought to be willing to acknowledge ? 

The answer to this question is : The law of the 
Church of the New Jerusalem "in respect to the 
Lord, in respect to the neighbour, and in respect to 
the ceremonies of the Church," are the doctrines of 
the internal sense of the Sacred Scripture, which have 
been revealed by the Lord at His Second Coming for 
the special benefit of this Church, and which are 
contained in the theological writings of Emanuel 
Swedenborg. 

This is the law which the Church of the New 
Jerusalem as an outward organization must acknow- 
ledge, and before which all those in authority must 
bow. 

Let us be thankful that we have a law in our 
Church, a law to which we can go for light as to our 
duties towards God and towards our neighbour, and 
a law to which we can go for instruction in everything 
concerning the external worship or the ceremonies of 
the Church; for in revealing this law for the New 
Church the Lord was mindful of every want of His*- 
people, and whoever seeks will surely find there what 
he needs. 

We are aware that in claiming the authority of a 



14 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH 

law for the doctrines of the internal sense of the 
Word as taught in the theological writings of 
Emanuel Swedenborg, we expose ourselves to criti- 
cisms and objections on various sides. We shall 
endeavour to answer these objections in order. 



CHAPTER II. 

THE DOCTRINES OF THE NEW CHURCH NOT 
HUMAN BUT DIVINE. 

THE first objection is : By declaring the doctrines 
of the New Church as contained in the theo- 
logical writings of Emanuel Swedenborg to be the 
law, and thus the final authority in the New Church, 
you make them equal to the Word of God, and thus 
of Divine authority. 

To this we unhesitatingly reply : We do believe 
and acknowledge that the doctrines of the New Church 
which are contained in the theological writings of 
Emanuel Swedenborg are of Divine authority ; and 
we believe and acknowledge them to be of Divine 
authority, because the Lord in and by these doctrines 
has effected His Second Coming upon earth. We be- 
lieve, further, that the doctrines contained in the theo- 
logical writings of Emanuel Swedenborg are the 
doctrines of the internal sense of the Sacred Scripture ; 
yea, we believe that these doctrines are the internal 
sense of the Sacred Scripture itself in a form accom- 
modated to the rational understanding of mankind. 

In order to accommodate the doctrines of the inter- 
nal sense of the Sacred Scripture to the rational 



16 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

understanding of men, the Lord revealed these doc- 
trines to the rational mind of Swedenborg ; and in 
order to enable him to receive these doctrines from 
the Lord, according to his own statement, Sweden- 
borg " was prepared by the Lord for his work from 
his earliest youth" (T. C R. 850). 

After receiving the doctrines of the New Jerusalem, 
or the doctrines of the internal sense of the Sacred 
Scripture, in his rational mind, Swedenborg was com- 
missioned by the Lord to make them known to the 
world by the press. This we are taught in these 
words : — 

(6.) "As the Lord cannot manifest Himself in person, and yet 
foretold that He would come again and establish a New Church which 
is the New Jerusalem, it follows that He would do this by a man who 
could not only receive the doctrines of that Church by his under- 
standing, but also publish them by the press. " And this man, as it is 
further declared, was Swedenborg himself ( T. C. R. 779). 

From this it follows that the Lord's Second Coming 
was effected by a man — yea, by means of the man 
Swedenborg; and that the Lord's Second Coming 
was effected by Swedenborg's " receiving the doctrines 
of the New Jerusalem by his understanding, and pub- 
lishing them by the press." So that the Lord effected 
His Second Coming in and by means of those works 
which Emanuel Swedenborg published by the press. 
That this is meant in the Apocalypse by the New 
Jerusalem descending out of heaven is proved by the 
superscriptions to Nos. 779 and 781 in T. C. R., when 
read in consecutive order : — 

(7.) "The Lord's Second Advent takes place by a man, before whom 
He manifested Himself in person, and whom He filled with His Spirit, 



THE DOCTRINES DIVINE NOT HUMAN. 17 

so that he might teach the doctrines of the New Church by the Word 
from Himself. This is meant in the Apocalypse by the new heaven 
and the new earth, and the New Jerusalem descending thence." 

From this it follows that, in writing those works 
which he afterwards published, Swedenborg " was 
filled by the Spirit of God" and thus was inspired, so 
that what he wrote was from the Lord, and not from 
himself. It follows, also, that the doctrines contained 
in the theological writings of Swedenborg are meant 
in the Apocalypse by " the holy city, New Jerusalem, 
descending from God out of heaven." And it follows, 
further, that the contents of these writings come to us 
with Divine and not with human authority, and that 
the publication of these writings in this world con- 
stitutes the Lord's Second Coming, which was pro- 
mised in the letter of the Word. That Swedenborg, 
in writing his theological works, wrote from inspira- 
tion is further taught in the heading to the Coronis, 
No. 18, where we read :— 

(8.) "The Lord Jehovah from the New Heaven derives and pro- 
duces a New Church upon earth, which takes place by means of a 
revelation of truths from His mouth or from His Word, and by 

inspiration.'''' 

Likewise in the following passage : — 

(9.) "The internal sense differs altogether from the literal sense; 
for it treats of spiritual and heavenly, but the literal sense of worldly 
and earthly, things. That the internal sense, however, is such as it has 
been expounded, appears from the particulars that have been explained, 
and especially from this circumstance, that this sense has been dictated to 
vie out of heaven {quod ille e ccelo mihi dictatus fuerit" (A. C. 6597). 

On this account, also, Swedenborg wrote in a Sketch 
of the History of the New Church (photo-lithographic 
edition of his MSS., vol. viii. p. 1), as follows : — 

B 



18 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

(10. ) " Those books are to be enumerated which were written by the 
Lord through me (a Domino per me) from the beginning to the present day. " 

That by the descent of the holy city New Jeru- 
salem is meant the publication of the doctrines of the 
New Church, and the establishment of a New Church 
by means of these doctrines, is taught clearly in 
Coronis, Nos. 18 and 20, where it is written : — 

(11.) " We read that John saw the holy city New Jerusalem coming 
down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her 
husband (Rev. xxi. i). By the holy city New Jerusalem is understood 
the doctrine of the New Chnrch, and thus the Church as to doctrine ; 
and by Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven is understood 
that the true doctrine of the Church is from no other source. The doc- 
trine comes down, because the Church is a Church from doctrine, and 
according to it : without doctrine a Church is no more a Church than a 
man is a man without members and interior and exterior organs, and 
thus from the mere cutaneous covering which simulates his external 
form ; and as little as a house is a house without chambers, rooms, 
furniture, and utensils, and thus from its mere naked walls. Exactly 
so it is with the Church. 

"Before the Last Judgment no doctrine of the Church could be 
brought down by the Lord through heaven to the men upon earth. But 
since the Last Judgment man is brought with a more free and sponta- 
neous spirit to cast off falsities and receive truths. With those who 
accommodate themselves and suffer themselves to be led by the Lord 
the doctrine of the new heaven is afterwards derived and introduced, 
which is the doctrine of truth and good falling from heaven like the 
dew of twilight, by which the leaves of the grass are opened, and their 
vegetative juice is sweetened. This doctrine, also, is like the shower of 
rain, which refreshes the firstfruits of the field and causes them to 
sprout ; it is also like the fragrance exhaling from the fields, gardens, 
and flowery meadows, which is inhaled by the breast with an eager and 
glad spirit." 

From this passage it is also clearly proved that the 
New Jerusalem does not descend insensibly into the 
interiors of men, and hence does not transform them 



THE DOCTRINES DIVINE NOT HUMAN. 19 

gradually by an interior process into members of the 
New Jerusalem ; for it is distinctly stated here that 
by the descent of the New Jerusalem is meant the 
descent of doctrine, and that by means of this doctrine 
the New Jerusalem is established upon earth. 

That the doctrines of the New Church contained in 
the theological writings of Swedenborg come to us 
with the authority of the Lord and not with the 
authority of Swedenborg, and that the Lord has made 
in these writings His Second Coming, is taught in the 
19th chapter of the Revelation in these words : "And 
I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse ; and 
He that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, 
. . . . and His name is called the Word of God." 
These words are explained in A, R. 820 thus : — 

(12.) "By these words is signified that the spiritual sense of the 
Word has been revealed by the Lord, and that thereby an interior 
understanding of the Word has been discovered, which is the Lord's 
Advent. . . . That the spiritual sense of the Word has been revealed 
this day may be seen in the Arcana Ccelestia, where the two books of 
Moses, Genesis and Exodus, have been explained according to that 
sense ; also in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem concerning the Sacred 
Scripture, Nos. 5-26; in the little work on The White Horse, from 
beginning to end, and in the passages collected there from the Sacred 
Scripture ; and moreover, in the present explanations of the Apocalypse, 
where not a single verse can be understood without the spiritual sense. " 

As a further proof that the Lord effected His Second 
Coming by Swedenborg's theological writings, Swe- 
denborg makes the following statement in his Sketch 
of a History of the New Church, to which we have 
already referred : — 

(13.) " Upon all my books, in the spiritual world, was written The 
Lord's Advent (Adventus Domini). The same I also inscribed, by 
command, on two copies in Holland." 



20 A UTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

From all of this it follows that the doctrines con- 
tained in the theological writings of Swedenborg come 
to us with Divine authority, and that these doctrines 
are the spiritual sense of the Word in and by which 
the Lord effected His Second Coming-. 



CHAPTER III. 

THE DOCTRINES OF THE NEW CHURCH IN THEIR 
RELATION TO THE WORD. 

THE second objection which is made to our 
position that the doctrines contained in the 
theological writings of Emanuel Swedenborg are the 
final law in the Lord's New Church, is as follows : 
By making the doctrines of the internal sense, or 
the doctrines taught in the theological writings of 
Emanuel Swedenborg, the law in the New Church, you 
thereby supersede the inspired letter of the Word of 
God, and make it of no account, for there can be 
only one authority, not two authorities, in the Church. 
By acknowledging the doctrines of the internal 
sense to be the law of the New Church we acknow- 
ledge the Lord at His Second Coming to be the 
authority in the New Church. But as the Second 
Coming of the Lord does not abrogate His First 
Coming, so also by acknowledging the authority of the 
doctrines of the internal sense we do not abrogate 
the authority of the letter of the Word. The letter 
is the body, the internal sense the soul (see A. C. 
4857, 8943 ; H. H. 307) ; and the letter of the Word \ 
and its internal sense are as much one as the body 
and the soul are one. Besides, by declaring the soul 



22 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

of the Word to be authoritative we do not impugn 
the authority of the body of the Word ; for the soul 
dwells in the body, and rests upon it, and all the 
power of the soul is wielded by the body. If you 
take the body away from the soul in this world, all its 
power is gone. In declaring the doctrines of the in- 
ternal sense to be authoritative in the Church, we are 
therefore most careful not to separate these doctrines 
from the letter of the Word. We acknowledge and 
revere the letter of the word as the vessel and con- 
tinent of the spiritual sense ; but as all the value of a 
vessel is derived from its contents, so also all the value 
of the letter of the Word is derived from the spiritual 
sense. On this subject we read, in the Arcana 
Ccelestia, No. 3 : — 

(14.) "Without such a life [i.e. without the spiritual and celestial 
sense, contained interiorly in the Word] the Word as to its letter is 
dead ; for the Word is like man, who, as is known in the Christian 
world, is external and internal. The external man separate from the 
internal is the body, and thus dead ; but it is the internal which lives, 
and which gives the external the faculty of living. The internal 
man is man's soul. So also the Word, as to the letter only, is like 
a body without a soul." (See also A. C. 755; S. S. 77.) 

In declaring the spiritual sense to be authoritative 
in the New Church, we therefore claim authority for 
the living and not for the dead principle in the Word 
of God ; and we also claim authority for the letter of 
the Word, yet only when the letter is instinct with 
spirit, and thus only in proportion as the letter is 
regarded as the continent and bearer of the spiritual 
sense. We read further : — 

(15.) "To the end that the Lord might be constantly present, He 
discovered to me the spiritual sense of His Word, in which Divine 






THE DOCTRINES AND THE WORD. 23 

Truth is in its light ; and in this He is continually present : for the 
Lord is present in the Word only by the spiritual sense, and from the 
light of the spiritual sense He passes into the shade, in which is the 
sense of the letter" {T. C. R. 780). 

By acknowledging the doctrines of the internal 
sense to be authoritative in the New Church we 
therefore acknowledge the Lord encompassed with 
light as the authority in the New Church ; while 
those who acknowledge the letter of the Word as 
authoritative acknowledge the Lord surrounded with 
shade as their authority ; and in proportion as they not 
only acknowledge the authority of the letter, but 
deny at the same time the authority of the doctrines 
of the internal sense, they are indeed in the acknow- 
ledgment of the Lord's First Coming, but deny His 
Second Coming. 

In holding, therefore, the internal sense of the Word 
to be authoritative in the New Church, we do not 
deny the authority of the letter ; but we do deny and 
repudiate the idea that the merely literal sense, as 
interpreted by fallible men, is to be set in the New 
Church as an authority over the doctrines of the in- 
ternal sense. The internal is always the master, 
and the external the servant, and not vice versa. 
Such is the case with the internal and external in the 
Church, and also in man, and such must be the case 
with the internal and external in the Word, for 
Divine order is the same everywhere. We read in this 
respect : — 

(16.) "The externals of the Church without internals are of no value, 
but they derive their value from internals, and are of such a quality as 
are the internals. The case is as with man : his external or corporeal 



24 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

nature in itself is a mere nothing unless there is an internal to animate 
and vivify it; wherefore the quality of the external is determined by 
that of the internal. Or in other words : according to the quality 
of the soul and mind is the value of all things which exist by the 
external or corporeal nature. The things of the heart, and not those 
of the mouth and of outward gesture, constitute the man. Such also is 
the case with the internals of the Church; yet the externals of the 
Church are like the externals of man in this respect, that they serve and 
minister {procurent el administrenty (A. C. 1795). 

In the same way, also, the letter, or the literal sense, 
serves and ministers to the spiritual sense, and not 
vice versa. The service and ministry which the literal 
sense affords to the spiritual sense is this, that it is 
the vessel out of which the doctrine of the internal 
sense is drawn ; and after it is drawn out of it this 
same doctrine is confirmed by the literal sense, where- 
fore the literal sense is the basis of the spiritual sense. 
This is clearly taught in 5. 5. 54, where we read : — 

(17.) "Doctrine must not only be drawn from the sense of the letter 1 
of the Word, but also be confirmed by it ; for unless the truth of doctrine 
is confirmed by the letter of the Word, it appears as if only the intelli- 
gence of man, and not the Lord's Divine Wisdom, is contained in it. 
Doctrine also, in this case, would be like a house in the air, and not upon 
the earth, and thus it would be without a basis." 

By maintaining that the doctrine of the internal 
sense is the soul, and that the letter is in the place 
of a body to this doctrine, or that the internal sense 
is the ruler and the literal sense the servant and 
minister, we also answer the objection of those who 
maintain that by claiming Divine authority for the 
teachings contained in the theological writings of Ema- 
nuel Swedenborg, we set up the pretension that these 
writings are a " third" Word, when yet the Lord has 



THE DOCTRINES AND THE WORD. 25 

expressly declared that "no addition will ever be 
made to the Word." 

It is true that the Lord has said, "If any man shall 
add unto the prophecy of this book, God shall add 
unto him the plagues that are written in this book." 
Yet in the same book we read that " this book would 
be opened, and the seals thereof would be loosed." 
And we read further, that upon the opening of the 
first seal John saw "a white horse," by which is meant 
"the interior understanding, and thus the spiritual 
sense of the Word" [A. R. 320). We see, therefore, 
that the spiritual sense of the Word from the very 
first formed an integral part of the Word, only it was 
"sealed." By revealing, therefore, what was originally 
contained in the Word, no addition is made to it. 
But if anything which from the very first had been 
in the Word, and had formed a part of the Word, is 
taken away from it ; if therefore the Divinity of the 
doctrines of the internal sense which are contained 
interiorly in the letter, and which have been revealed 
by the Lord at His Second Coming, is denied, 
then the additional words of the Lord in the Revela- 
tion come into force: " And if any man shall takeaway - 
from the words of the book of this prophecy, God 
shall take away his part out of the book of life, and 
out of the holy city, and from the things which are 
written in this book." That this is the spiritual 
meaning of this passage is plainly stated in A. R. 
959, where we read as follows : — 

(18.) " That it may be known that by these words is not meant he 
who takes away from the words of this book as it is written in the sense 
of the letter, but he who takes away from the truths of doctrine which 



26 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

are in its spiritual sense, I will explain the reason : The Word which 
was dictated from the Lord passed through the heavens of His celestial 
and through the heavens of His spiritual kingdom, and thus came to 
man, by whom it was written ; wherefore the Word in its first origin is 
purely Divine. This, by passing through the heavens of the Lord's 
celestial kingdom, became the Divine celestial, and by passing through 
the heavens of the Lord's spiritual kingdom it became the Divine spiritual, 
and when it came to man it became the Divine natural ; and hence it is 
that the natural sense of the Word contains within it the spiritual 
sense, and this the celestial sense, and both a purely Divine sense, which 
does not appear to any man, nor to any angel. These things have been 
adduced in order that it may be seen that by not adding to or taking 
away anything from the writings in the Apocalypse is understood in 
heaven that nothing is to be added to, or to be taken away from the 
truths of doctrine concerning the Lord, concerning faith in Him, and 
concerning a life according to His precepts : for this is the sense from 
which, as has been said, is the sense of the letter. " 

By " not adding to or taking from the prophecy of 
this book " is therefore meant that the doctrines of the 
internal sense of the Word, which have been revealed 
by the Lord at His Second Coming, are to be the law 
and the authority and the standard of truth in the 
New Jerusalem, and that nothing must either be added 
to or taken from this authority. 

Those are filled with a desire of adding to the doc- 
trines of the internal sense who say that these doctrines 
are not complete, which is equivalent to a declaration 
that the Lord's Second Coming through the instru- 
mentality of Swedenborg is not complete; and the 
ground on which they make this assertion is, that the 
Lord through Swedenborg did not reveal the whole 
of the internal sense of Scripture, but only a part. 
Those would fain convince their fellow-members in 
the Church that the Lord will supplement His 
Second Coming by filling other men with His 



THE DOCTRINES AND THE WORD. 27 

Spirit, in order by them to supply the deficiencies 
of the doctrines of the internal sense in their present 
form. In order to claim for the doctrines of such 
men the authority of the Lord's Second Coming, they 
further hold that the Lord has not once for all 
effected His Second Coming through the instrumen- 
tality of Emanuel Swedenborg, but that His Second 
Coming is progressive, and that it takes place in pro- 
portion as the leading doctrines of the New Church 
are adopted by mankind in general, and in proportion 
as the deficiencies of the internal sense are supplied 
by the instrumentality of other enlightened men. 

In answer to these men, we may state that the doc- 
trines of the internal sense are an integral whole, and 
that they are " drawn out of the literal sense, and after- 
wards confirmed by it." That the doctrine contained in 
Swedenborg's theological works was drawn from the 
whole of the letter of the Word, and not simply from 
Genesis, Exodus, and the Revelation, can be seen 
from the passages of the letter of the Word by which 
these doctrines are confirmed, and which have been 
derived from every part of the letter of the Word, as 
may be proved by a mere inspection of the valuable 
work compiled by the late J. F. E. le Boys des 
Guays, entitled General Index of Passages from the 
Divine Word quoted in the Works of Emanuel Swe- 
denborg. If it be objected that this Index shows that 
all the passages of the Sacred Scripture have not 
been explained according to their spiritual mean- 
ing, it may be answered that from the fact that 
Swedenborg has not specified every passage of the 
letter of the Sacred Scripture from which the doctrines 



28 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

of the internal sense are drawn, it does not follow that 
the doctrine has not been drawn from the whole of 
the letter of the Word, for there are innumerable 
statements of doctrine made in the Arcana Ccelestia, 
Heaven and Hell, The Divine Love and Wisdom, The 
Divine Providence t The True Christian Religion, and 
in all the other doctrinal writings of Swedenborg, 
where the particular passages of the letter of the 
Word from which these doctrines have been drawn 
are not specified ; and yet as all these doctrinal state- 
ments belong to the doctrines of the New Church, 
which are identical with the internal sense of the 
Word, they must be based upon and drawn from some 
passage of Scripture. The objection, therefore, that 
the revelation made by Emanuel Swedenborg is not 
complete amounts simply to this, that all the passages 
of the literal sense have not been used in confirmation 
of the doctrines of the internal sense, while no proofs 
whatever have been adduced to show that the doctrines 
themselves are not complete. On the contrary, as the 
letter of the Word which the Lord fulfilled at His First 
Coming is a whole, we have every reason to believe 
that the doctrine of the internal sense, by the revela- 
tion of which He effected His Second Coming, is also 
a whole, and that as there is not a single iota wanting 
in the letter of the Word, there is also not a single 
iota wanting in those doctrines which constitute the 
internal sense of the Word. Where there is nothing 
wanting there is no cause for an addition. 

On the other hand, however, the members of the 
Lord's Church must carefully refrain from taking away 
from these doctrines by denying the authority of any 



THE DOCTRINES AND THE WORD. 29 

portion of these doctrines as contained in the theo- 
logical writings of Swedenborg ; but this they do by 
declaring that by the light of their reason they perceive 
some parts therein which are not Divine, and which 
have been inserted by Swedenborg himself, and not 
by the Lord. The various attempts to limit or take 
away from the authority of the doctrines contained in 
the theological works of Swedenborg will be minutely 
examined in subsequent parts of our dissertation ; we 
shall therefore add here some corroborating state- 
ments, showing that the doctrines of the Church are 
the internal sense of the Word. 

It is known and generally believed in the Church, 
that the letter of the Word can only be understood 
by means of doctrine, which is, to the man of the 
Church, in the place of a lamp (see A. C. 10,324, 
10,584; H. D. 254). This doctrine, however, which 
is to serve as a lamp for the understanding of the 
Word, is identical with the internal sense, as is plainly 
stated in the following passage from the Arcana 
Cceleslia, No. 10,400 : — 

(19.) " The doctrine which ought to serve man as a lamp is that 
which is taught by the internal sense, and thus it is the internal sense. " 

Further passages are : — 

(20.) "The doctrine of faith is the same as the understanding of the 
Word as to its interiors, and it is the same as the internal sense " {A. C. 
2762). 

(21.) "The true doctrine of the Church is what is here called the 
internal sense ; for in the internal sense are truths such as are with the 
angels in heaven" {A. C. 9025). 

(22.) "Those who remain merely in the literal sense of the Word, 
and do not collect anything of doctrine thence, are separate from the 
internal sense ; for the internal sense is doctrine itself. The conjunction 



30 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH 

of the Lord with the externals of the Word is by the internals" {A. C. 
938o). 

(23. ) " The doctrine of charity and faith is the internal of the Word, 
and the sense of the letter its external. . . . From that doctrine the 
internal of the Word is known ; for the internal of the Word is the very 
doctrine of love to the Lord and charity to the neighbour according to 
Matt. xxi. 34, 38" [A. C. 9409). 

(24.) " The true doctrine of the Word is the internal of the Word " 
{A. C. 9410). 

(25.) "By the genuine doctrine of the Church as to faith and life 
the internal sense of the Word is inscribed upon man's understanding, 
as well as upon his will ; upon his understanding by faith, and upon his 
will by life " {A. C. 9430). 

(26.) "Those see the hinder-parts of Jehovah, and not His face, who 
believe the Word and adore it, but simply its external, which is 
the sense of the letter, and who do not enter more interiorly like 
those who are illustrated, and who prepare for themselves a doc- 
trine from the Word by which they may see its genuine, and thus its 
interior, sense. The Word cannot be understood without doctrine ; 
doctrine prepared from the Word by one in illustration must serve the 
understanding as a lamp, and the internal sense of the Word teaches 
this doctrine" {A. C. 10,584). 

In the New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine, 
No. 7, we meet with this passage : — 

(27.) " In respect to the special doctrine which now follows, this also 
is from heaven, because it is from the spiritual sense of the Word, and 
the spiritual sense of the Word is identical with the doctrine in heaven. 
. . . But let me approach the doctrine itself, which is for the New 
Church, and which is called Heavenly Doctrine because it was revealed 
to me out of heaven ; to deliver this doctrine is the object of this work." 

We see, therefore, that the genuine doctrines of the 
Church, and hence the doctrines taught by Emanuel 
Swedenborg, " whom the Lord filled with His Spirit 
for the purpose of teaching the doctrines of the New 
Church by the Word from Himself" (T. C R. 779), 
are the internal sense of the Word, and that they 



THE DOCTRINES AND THE WORD. 31 

come to us with all the authority of the internal sense 
of the Word, which is the essential Word of God 
(A. C. 1540, 3432), yea, which is the Lord Himself, 
according to these words, " The internal sense is the 
soul of the Word, and is the very Divine Truth pro- 
ceeding from the Lord ; thus it is the Lord Himself" 
(A. C. 9349). When, therefore, Swedenborg declares 
in A. C. 6597, that " the internal sense has been dictated 
to him out of heaven'' this means nothing more and 
nothing less than that the whole of the doctrines of 
the New Church, and everything belonging thereto, 
and thus the contents of all those works which he 
published as the servant of the Lord Jesus Christ, 
were dictated to him out of heaven. He therefore 
declares most emphatically that he wrote these works 
by inspiration, that they are the Lord's works and 
not his own, and that therefore they come to the 
members of the Church with a Divine and not a 
merely human authority. Yet these doctrines do not 
supersede the letter of the Word, nor do they dimin- 
ish its importance ; for, as we read again : — 

(28.) "The literal sense is by no means annihilated by the internal 
sense, but is rather confirmed and strengthened thereby ; for every single 
word of the letter obtains weight and holiness from the internal sense 
which is within. Besides, the literal sense is the basis and fulcrum 
by which the internal sense exerts its power, and with which it is so 
intimately conjoined, that there is not an iota, point, or tittle in the 
letter of the Word which does not contain within it what is Divine " 
(A. C. 9349). 

Some may think that the doctrines of the New 
Church cannot be the internal sense of the Word, 
because they were published by Swedenborg in so 
many detached volumes, and thus form a distinct 



32 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

whole, separate from the letter of the Word of God. 
Yet it is not the paper, ink, and binding which con- 
stitute the doctrines of the New Church, as little as 
these materials constitute the Bible or the Word of 
God. They are accidents of space and time added to, 
but not belonging to the Word. On account of the 
presence of these accidents, both those writings which 
contain the internal sense of the Word of God, and 
that book which contains its literal sense, are dead, 
; and they are not vivified until they are received in the 
mind of man (A. C. 1776). But in the minds of men 
these doctrines become the internal sense of the Word 
of God, because they become the interior understand- 1 
ing which is connected in their minds with the literal | 
sense of Scripture ; and in proportion as these doc- 
trines in the minds of the members of the New Church 
become based upon the literal sense of Scripture, the 
Lord Himself is present with them, and illustrates 
their understanding of the internal sense. For con- 
junction with heaven, and hence the Lord's presence, 
is caused by the letter of the Word, which is written 
by correspondences ; but it is not caused by the spiri- 
tual sense, or by the doctrines of the spiritual sense 
independently of the letter, since these doctrines are 
written in the common language of men, and indeed 
in the language of Swedenborg, which the Lord em- 
ployed as a vessel in conveying these doctrines to 
mankind. Let us, therefore, continue to revere the 
letter of the Word of God as the medium of con- 
junction between heaven and earth, and as the only 
means by which the Lord can illustrate man in the 
true understanding of the internal sense of Scripture. 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE DOCTRINES OF THE NEW CHURCH IN THEIR 
RELATION TO HUMAN REASON. 

THE third objection usually advanced against our 
position that the doctrines contained in the 
theological writings of Emanuel Swedenborg are to 
be the law in the Lord's New Church, comes from 
those who say : We do admit the authority of the 
doctrines of the New Church, but we hold that the 
doctrines of the New Church are mixed up in the 
writings of Swedenborg with his own ideas and his 
own notions ; wherefore we hold that the members of 
the New Church must make use of their reason so as 
to separate what is human from what is Divine, and 
what is fallible from what is infallible in these writings. 
Those who hold these views believe in a mixed 
authority, or rather they hold that there are two 
authorities in the Church. One of these authorities 
is that which they call the doctrines of the New 
Church, which are, according to their ideas, contained 
in the writings of Swedenborg in the same way as 
gold mixed with dross is contained in the earth. 
The second authority is their own reason, by which 
they separate the dross from the gold, or by which 
they declare which portions in the writings of 

c 



34 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

Swedenborg belong to the doctrines of the Church, 
and hence are authoritative, and which portions are 
Swedenborg's own human additions, and hence are 
void of authority in the Church. They therefore set 
up their own reason as umpire in the Church, and 
declare that their reason has to decide what is a'' . r v 
tative in the Church and what is not. But is it not 
very plain that all those who hold these opinions set 
up their own authority in the Church, and deny that 
of the teachings which are contained in Swedenborg's 
writings, and hence that they deny the authority of 
the Lord at His Second Coming ? For an authority 
which is questioned, or which is submitted to another 
authority, is no authority. It is authority under 
another authority, and the other authority acts through 
it, and thereby denies it any authority independent of 
itself. It is plain, also, that any one who makes the 
authority of the doctrines contingent upon the assent 
or dissent of his reason, subjects these doctrines to 
himself, and declares " himself to be the law " of the 
Church, and also teaches that " the law of the Church 
is from himself." Nor is this matter mended if the 
person in question repudiates this authority when 
he is alone by himself, but claims this authority 
when he sits in conference or in convention with 
others ; for in that case he shifts the authority from 
one man to many men, and thus still opposes the 
authority of man to the authority of God. 

But it may be retorted that he who submits the 
teachings of the writings of the Church to the arbitra- 
ment of his reason, does not submit them thereby to 
the authority of what is his own or of his proprmm ; 



THE DOCTRINES AND HUMAN REASON 35 

because the faculty of reason comes from the Lord, 
and because when he with the use of his reason decides 
as to the fallibility or infallibility of any portion of the 
theological writings of Swedenborg, he does so in a 
state of illustration or perception from the Lord. But 
who is to decide whether a person is in a state of 
illustration or perception when he declares as to the 
truth or falsity of any portion of the writings of the 
New Church ? In the first place, this gift of percep- 
tion or illustration from the Lord, by which man sees 
the truth not from himself but from the Lord, pre- 
supposes a state in which man has reached not only 
the sixth, but even the seventh stage of the regenerate 
life, and of this Swedenborg says that " scarcely any 
one ever reaches that state" {A. C. 18). Is any one 
rash enough to maintain, in the face of this declara- 
tion, that he is one of those exceptional ones that 
have reached this seventh state ? The conclusion, 
therefore, is that such a person does not enjoy the 
perception of the celestial man, yea, scarcely the 
illustration of the spiritual man, concerning which we 
read that it is " a certain favouring and consent from 
the interior that a thing is true, and a disfavouring if 
it is not true" {A. C. 8694). Besides, such "a 
favouring or disfavouring," of which Swedenborg in 
the same place says that " it is not manifest, nor 
altogether hidden," is evidently not sufficient to enable 
a man of the Church, whether layman or minister, to 
decide whether a statement in the writings is a matter 
of doctrine or not. On the contrary, there is a strong 
presumption that his regeneration, either as a spiritual 
or a celestial man, is not yet accomplished, and that 



36 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

his reason is of that description concerning which we 
read in The Divine Providence, No. 98 : — 

(29.) "Every man has the faculty of willing, which is called freedom, 
and the faculty of understanding, which is called reason. . . . But it is 
quite a different thing to act from freedom according to reason, and to 
act from freedom itself according to reason itself From freedom itself 
according to reason itself those only act who have suffered themselves 
to be regenerated by the Lord ; all the rest act from freedom according 
to thought, which with them has the appearance of reason {quam 
instar rationis facitinf)" 

It is plain, therefore, that if the reason of the men 
of the Church is to decide as to the fallibility or in- 
fallibility of any portion of the writings, all authority in 
the Church, and hence all acknowledgment of the truth 
in the Church, is at an end. For if reason with all 
men whose regeneration is not accomplished, or who 
are not in the process of regeneration, is but another 
term for their own thought; and if, as is generally 
admitted, the thought of every man differs from that 
of every other man, there would be in that case as 
many sources of authority in the Church as there are 
men, which is equivalent to no authority. 

In demanding the authority of the Word, and hence 
of the Lord, for the teachings contained in the theo- 
logical writings of Emanuel Swedenborg, and in deny- 
ing the authority of men's reason over the doctrines 
revealed by his instrumentality, we are, however, very 
far from exacting a blind belief in his writings, and 
from holding that a man ought not to exercise his 
own thought in matters of doctrine. It is one thing 
to claim infallibility for human reason by setting it 
above revealed truth, and quite a different thing for 
reason to accept revealed truth as an authority, and 



THE DOCTRINES AND HUMAN REASON. 37 

by the aid of this authority to distinguish between 
what is true and false. In the first case, human reason 
acknowledges no law superior to itself, but is a law to 
itself, and declares that all law emanates from itself; 
but in the latter case, human reason does acknowledge 
a law superior to itself, and by means of this law 
decides between what is just and unjust, between what 
is true and false. 

The question whether reason is to be consulted in 
matters of faith is treated at great length in the 
Arcana Ccelestia ; nay, we read concerning the Lord 
that, when He was young, and saw that man can 
receive only that of which he is able to form to him- 
self a rational idea, He began to think whether reason 
ought not to be placed above doctrine; but He saw 
that this could not be, because thus doctrine would 
be destroyed (see A. C. 2519, 2588). 

The doctrine of the New Church on this subject is 
as follows : — 

(30.) "It is quite a different thing to look upon the doctrine of faith 
from reason, and to look upon the things of reason from the doctrine of 
faith. To look upon the doctrine of faith from the things of reason is 
equivalent to a belief in the Word and in doctrine thence, until one is 
persuaded from rational considerations that they are true ; but to look 
upon the things of reason from the doctrine of faith is equivalent to first 
believing the Word or doctrine thence, and then confirming them by 
rational considerations. The former is order inverted, and the result is 
that nothing is believed ; but the latter is genuine order, and causes the 
doctrine of faith to be believed better. 

" There are therefore two principles, of which one leads to all 
stupidity and madness, and the other to all intelligence and wisdom. 
The first principle consists in denying everything, or in saying at heart 
that one cannot believe these things before being convinced by such 
things as may be comprehended or felt. This principle leads to all 
stupidity and insanity, and may be called the negative principle. The 



38 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

other principle consists in affirming those things which belong to doc- 
trine from the Word, or in thinking or believing that they are true 
because the Lord has spoken them. This principle leads to all intelli- 
gence and wisdom, and is to be called the affirmative principle. Those 
who think from a negative principle, the more they consult the things 
of reason, and the more they consult scientific and philosophical things, 
the more tbey cast and precipitate themselves into darkness, until they 
finally deny everything ; and the reason of this is, because no one from 
lower things can comprehend higher, that is, spiritual and celestial, 
and still less Divine things, for they transcend all understanding; and 
moreover, each single thing from its source is then mixed with negative 
things. But on the other hand, those who think from an affirmative 
principle may confirm themselves by everything rational and everything 
scientific — yea, by everything philosophical; for all these are to them 
confirmations, and give to them a fuller idea " (A. C. 2568). 

What Swedenborg here calls an affirmative prin- 
ciple means in reality to accept the truth revealed 
from the Lord as an authority ; and what he calls a 
negative principle means to deny the authority of 
revealed truth either in toto, or to accept only so much 
of it as human reason approves as the doctrine of the 
Church. 

The attitude, therefore, which is occupied by those 
who declare that in the writings of Emanuel Sweden- 
borg the doctrines of the New Church are mixed 
with Swedenborg's own ideas, and that human reason 
is to decide how much or how little of his teachings 
constitutes the doctrine of the New Church, resem- 
bles, to say the least, the attitude of those who, 
Swedenborg says, are ruled by a negative principle. 
While those who are willing to accept the theological 
writings which Swedenborg wrote as the servant 
of the Lord Jesus Christ as the law of the New 
Church, and who, in all questions of internal and 
external worship, are willing to be directed by the 



THE DOCTRINES AND HUMAN REASON 39 

doctrines contained in these writings, are animated by 
an affirmative principle. 

From this teaching of Swedenborg it follows further, 
that the New Church, by accepting the theological 
writings of Emanuel Swedenborg as its law and 
final authority, will be led to all intelligence and 
wisdom; while by listening to those who advance 
doubts as to their authority, and who would submit 
the teachings of the internal sense of the Word of 
God to their own reason, the New Church will be led 
into all stupidity and insanity. 

Among those who hold that the writings of the 
New Church are a mixed product of the Lord and Swe- 
denborg, a great variety of sentiments prevails as to 
how much in these writings is from the Lord and how 
much from Swedenborg ; yet, as they are all pretty 
much agreed that his account of things seen and 
heard in the other world, which includes the account 
of his visions in the Arcana Ccelestia, his work on 
Heaven and Hell, and his Memorable Relations, are 
his own and not the Lord's, we shall adduce Sweden- 
borg's own testimony to the effect that his mission con- 
sisted in revealing to mankind not only the internal 
sense of Scripture, but also the arcana of heaven : — - 

(31.) "By the 29th to the 31st verses in Matt. xxiv. is understood 
that at the end of the Church, when there is no longer any love and 
faith thence, the Lord would open the Word as to its internal sense, and 
reveal the arcana or hidden things of heaven. The arcana of heaven, 
which will be revealed in what follows, treat of heaven and hell, and, 
at the same time, of man's life after death" {H. H. 1). 

From this passage we see that it was the Lord and 
not Swedenborg who revealed to mankind the arcana 



40 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

of heaven in the work on Heaven and Hell. In con- 
firmation of this, Swedenborg declares distinctly in 
the latter part of his Spiritual Diary (Part III. vol. 
ii. p. 205) that the work on Heaven and Hell was 
not his but the Lord's work, " who was desirous to re- 
veal the nature of heaven and hell, and man's life after 
death, and the things respecting the Last Judgment." 
Whence it appears, that when Swedenborg himself 
speaks of the doctrines of the New Jerusalem which 
he was to reveal from the Lord, he always includes 
among them the record of what he himself saw and 
heard in heaven, so that the distinction made between 
the Arcana Ceelestia or The Apocalypse Revealed on 
the one hand, and Heaven and Hell on the other, 
originated altogether with the readers of Swedenborg, 
and not with Swedenborg himself. 

With regard to the Memorable Relations, however, 
to which so much exception is taken by some of those 
who study the writings of the New Church, although 
others regard them as the most beautiful and sublime 
parts of his writings, they are declared by Swedenborg 
himself to be essential portions of his writings, as 
appears from his answer to Count Hopken, who says 
in a letter to a friend : J — 

(32.) "I asked Swedenborg once why he wrote and published these 
Memorable Relations, which seemed to throw so much ridicule on his 
doctrine, otherwise so rational, and whether it would not be best for 
him to keep them to himself, and not to publish them to the world? 
But he answered that he had orders from the Lord to publish them, and 
that those who might ridicule him on that account would do him in- 



1 See Documents concerning Swedenborg, edited by the Rev. R. L. 
Tafel, vol. ii. p. 416. 



THE DOCTRINES AND HUMAN REASON. 41 

justice ; for, said he, why should I, who am a man in years, render 
myself ridiculous for fantasies and falsehoods ? " 

And why, we may add, should we, who believe the 
testimony of Swedenborg, be afraid or ashamed to 
acknowledge our faith in these Memorable Relations, 
concerning which Swedenborg himself declares that 
" he had orders from the Lord to publish them " ? The 
presence of these Memorable Relations in his works 
no doubt acts as a great safeguard against a merely L 
partial reception of the doctrines of the New Church, 1 
and for persons who are ashamed or afraid to incur / 
the odium of the world by acknowledging their faith 
in Swedenborg's Memorable Relations, it is perhaps i 
useful not to enter more deeply into an acknowledg- ) 
ment of the truth of the doctrine promulgated by him ) 
than they can be kept in for all future time. 



CHAPTER V. 

THE DOCTRINES OF THE NEW CHURCH IN THEIR 
RELATION TO NATURAL SCIENCE. 

I^HE fourth objection made against our position 
that the doctrines contained in the theological 
writings of Emanuel Swedenborg are the law in the 
Lord's New Church, is advanced by those who say : 
We are willing to accept as authoritative what Swe- 
denborg reveals to us on spiritual subjects, either in 
the form of doctrine drawn from the Word, or from 
things seen and heard in the spiritual world ; but we 
cannot attribute the same kind of authority to what 
he declares in respect to the things of this world. 

This position seems rational and orthodox, and also 
safe, and we believe that it is occupied in good faith by 
men who would shrink from passing judgment on the 
fallibility or infallibility of any portion of Sweden- 
borg's theological writings treating on internal and 
external worship, and thus concerning, in their estima- 
tion, the law of the Church. By thus leaving open 
the ground which Swedenborg has in common with 
natural science, these men think that they save the 
Church the trouble and inconvenience, and also the dis- 



THE DOCTRINES AND NATURAL SCIENCE. 43 

advantage, resulting from a possible disagreement of 
Swedenborg's science with the science of the day. 

From the benevolent opposition thus made by some 
New Churchmen to the natural science taught in the 
writings of the New Church, it would seem as if there 
were among these writings some works specially de- 
voted to the study of the natural sciences which could 
easily be singled out from the other works. But such 
is by no means the case. The facts and theories of 
natural science contained therein are all for the pur- 
pose of proving and confirming spiritual truths ; 
they are therefore in the place of a natural basis to 
these truths. Besides, the explanations of natural 
subjects occurring there are frequently so interwoven 
and logically connected with explanations of spiritual 
subjects, and the spiritual principles which are enun- 
ciated there enter generally so deeply and thoroughly 
into the natural subjects, that it is sometimes quite 
impossible to separate the two ; and if you do succeed 
in effecting a separation, the spiritual truth perishes, 
because it is deprived of the natural basis on which 
it rests. 

That there is such a connection between spiritual 
and natural things, and that natural things are alto- 
gether indispensable for the presentation of spiritual 
things in this world, appears plainly from the follow- 
ing passage from the Arcana Ccelestia, No. 5373 : — 

(33-) "Scientifics belonging to the natural [plane] are the ultimates 
of order ; prior things must be in ultimate or last things, that they may 
exist and appear in that sphere. And besides, all prior things tend towards 
ultimate things as to their boundaries or limits ; and there they exist 
together, as causes in their effects, or as higher things exist in lower 
things as in their vessels. The scientifics of the natural [plane or mind] 



44 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

are such ultimates, and hence the spiritual world terminates in man's 
natural [mind], where those things are. The things of the spiritual 
world are presented representatively; and unless spiritual things were 
thus representatively presented in the natural [plane], and hence by 
means of such things as are in the world, they could by no means be 
comprehended." 

And again we read: — 

(34.) "The spiritual sense cannot be perceived by man except in 
proportion as it may be presented and expounded by such things as 
belong to the world and nature" {A. C. 6996). 

We see, therefore, that the spiritual truths which 
the Lord revealed to mankind at His Second Coming 
in the theological writings of Emanuel Swedenborg 
are there " presented representatively " by the things 
of the natural world, or by the natural truths which 
are contained in those writings. And if these natural 
things are removed thence, the spiritual things at once 
become incomprehensible ; for " unless spiritual things 
are presented representatively by means of such 
things as are in the world," we read, " they cannot 
by any possibility be comprehended." 

We see, therefore, that the spiritual things in the 
theological writings of Swedenborg are as the soul, 
while the natural things, or the natural truths con- 
tained there, are in the place of the body, and that 
their relation is as intimate as that existing between 
the soul and the body. Yea, we see further that as 
the soul exercises all its power in this world by the 
body, and upon the removal of the body becomes 
altogether powerless, so also the spiritual truths in 
the writings of the New Church derive their power 
altogether from the natural things by which they 
are "representatively presented," or in which they 



THE DOCTRINES AND NATURAL SCIENCE. 45 

are presented as in an image. This is the cause of 
the many illustrations used by Swedenborg in his 
theological writings, and this also is the cause why so 
many memorable relations of the other world are con- 
tained there. These illustrations and these memorable 
relations were required, in order that spiritual truths 
might be mirrored in them, and thereby brought 
within the sphere of comprehension of men in this 
world. 

But it may be retorted that these natural truths or 
these natural facts are plainly Swedenborg's, and not 
the Lord's, because they existed in Swedenborg's 
mind, and he had acquired the greater part of them 
before the Lord called him to his office. 

These facts, it is true, existed in Swedenborg's mind 
before he was called by the Lord to his office, even as 
the man Swedenborg was in existence before the Lord 
called him to his work ; but as the Lord adopted the 
man Swedenborg in order that by him, or through his 
instrumentality, He might effect His Second Coming, 
so also the Lord adopted and made use of the natural 
scientifics which were in his mind. Yea, as we learn 
that Swedenborg was prepared by the Lord " from his 
earliest youth" (T. C. R. 850), so that "he could 
receive the doctrines of the New Jerusalem with his 
understanding" (T. C. R. 779), so also his under- 
standing was furnished " from his earliest youth " with 
such natural facts and truths as could " present repre- 
sentatively" the spiritual doctrines which he would 
receive from the Lord, and as would enable mankind 
to understand these spiritual doctrines. Yet after the 
Lord had adopted these natural facts, and made them 



w 



AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 



the ultimate vessels in which the doctrines of the in- 
ternal sense of the Word were brought down to men 
out of heaven, these facts were no more Swedenborg's, 
but they became the Lord's ; wherefore they put off 
the fallible quality of Swedenborg, and put on the 
infallible quality of God. 

All the natural facts, therefore, contained in the theo- 
logical writings of Swedenborg have acquired the force 
and power of natural truths ; and by means of these 
natural truths the whole field of natural science may be 
reformed and regenerated, even as the whole field of 
philosophy and theology will be reformed and re- 
generated by the rational and spiritual truths which 
are contained in the same writings. 

This also the Lord declared through the mouth of 
John, when, after the descent of the holy city New 
Jerusalem, by which is typically represented the de- 
scent of the doctrines of the New Church, he said, 
" Behold, I make all things new." 

The same thing He likewise declared by the Prophet 
Isaiah, when he said, " In that day there shall be a 
highway out of Egypt into Assyria ; and the Assyrian 
shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria, 
and the Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians. In 
that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and 
with Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the land." 

As all power is in ultimates, so also the strength 
and power of the spiritual truths in the writings of the 
New Church are contained in the natural things which 
are used in "presenting representatively" these spiritual 
truths to mankind, and by which they are enabled to 
comprehend these truths. As many of these natural 



THE DOCTRINES AND NATURAL SCIENCE. 47 

things, however, are taken from the plane of the ex- 
ternal senses, and thus may be compassed, criticised, 
and judged by sensual thought, those who impugn the 
Divine authority of the writings of the New Church, 
and who deny that the Lord in and by these writings 
has effected His Second Coming, from the very first 
directed their attention to these natural things, and 
they have been busy ever since in trying to discover 
contradictions between Swedenborg's science and the 
natural science of the day ; and whenever they have 
been fortunate enough to discover what appears to 
them a discrepancy, they have forged it into an argu- 
ment against the authority of the theological writings 
of Swedenborg. Like crafty assailants, they do not 
direct their attacks at once against the citadel of the 
New Jerusalem, against the spiritual truths or the 
doctrines of the internal sense taught in the writings 
of Swedenborg, because in that case their shafts would 
recoil at once from the spiritual armour of those who 
have a sincere and firm belief in the Second Coming 
of the Lord. They therefore do not assail the soul or 
the substance of the doctrines of the New Jerusalem, 
but they assail the body or the form in which these 
doctrines have been communicated to mankind, well 
knowing that if the body is destroyed, the power or 
the authority of the soul is destroyed. 

Like the serpent in the garden of Eden, they have 
assailed the New Church, i.e. the New Church in the 
minds of those who believe in the Lord's Second 
Coming, in the heel, in its sensual part, which is formed 
by the sensual truths of the new dispensation. And as 
these truths form an integral whole with the spiritual 



48 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

truths which are " representatively presented " in them, 
the poison has gradually spread from the heel to the 
higher and more interior portions of the system, so 
that a belief in the Divinity and infallibility of the 
teachings contained in the theological writings of 
Swedenborg, and hence a belief that the Lord in and 
by these writings has effected His Second Coming, 
is treated by many who ought to know better as a 
dangerous doctrine that ought to be classed in the 
same category with the doctrine of the infallibility of 
the Pope. 

But what ought a conscientious member of the New 
Church to do when attempts are made, not only to 
show discrepancies between Swedenborg's science and 
the science of the day, but also to prove contradictions 
in the doctrinal parts of the writings ? When a con- 
scientious member of the New Church hears any 
charges made against the Divinity and infallibility of 
either the soul or the body of the doctrines of the 
New Jerusalem, he must at once place himself on the 
unequivocal declaration made in these doctrines, that 
the Lord has effected His Second Coming in and 
by means of those writings which were published by 
Emanuel Swedenborg as His servant, that therefore 
these charges are not, and cannot be, true ; and to 
prove to him that this is the correct course to follow, 
let him read the following passage from the Arcana 
Ccelestia, No. 6749 : — 

(35.) " Some spirits, not of those who are altogether righteous, were 
with me for some time, and continually injected doubts from the fallacies 
of the senses against this truth, that all things are able to flow in from 
one source, and thus from the Lord. They were, however, told that so 



THE DOCTRINES AND NATURAL SCIENCE. 49 

many doubts could not be removed at once on account of the many 
fallacies of the senses that require to be removed first, and on account 
of the innumerable things that are not known, and which must be known 
first; yea, that with those who are in a negative state, i.e. with whom a 
negative principle reigns universally, doubts can never be removed, 
because with them one scruple weighs more than a thousand confirma- 
tory proofs. For one scruple is like a speck of sand placed before the 
pupil of the eye, which, although it is only one, and so very small, yet 
obstructs the sight of the whole eye. Those, however, who are in an 
affirmative state, i.e. with whom an affirmative principle reigns uni- 
versally, reject scruples from fallacies which are opposed to truths ; and 
if there are any things which they do not understand, they reject them 
to the sides, and say that they do not yet understand them, and thus they 
remain in the faith of the truth. But these spirits did not pay much 
attention to this, because they were in a negative state." 



So, also, if there are any charges brought against 
the teachings contained in the theological works of 
Swedenborg, by which it is attempted to prove that 
the Lord has not made His Second Coming in and 
by means of them, and hence that they are not of 
Divine, but of human authority ; and if a member of 
the Church who believes in the Divine authority of 
these writings cannot at once demonstrate the futility 
of these charges, he will say that "he cannot yet 
understand " or see the groundlessness of this charge, 
but that he nevertheless casts it aside, and holds on 
to the Divine authority of the doctrines of the Church, 
being confident that sooner or later, when " the many 
fallacies that require to be removed first" are re- 
moved, and when "the innumerable things that 
require to be known first" are known, the ground- 
lessness of all these charges will be made apparent. 

To this we may add, however, that the charges of 
inconsistency and of contradiction that have hitherto 

D 



50 



AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 



been brought against the writings of the New Church 
have all been of such a nature that their unreason- 
ableness and groundlessness can be proved by the 
advocates of the Divine nature of these revelations, 
even by means of the knowledge they have hitherto 
derived from these writings. 



CHAPTER VI. 

NATURE OF SWEDENBORG'S INSPIRATION. 

THE fifth objection to the Divine authority of the 
writings of the New Church is made by those 
who are willing to attribute to Swedenborg a high 
state of illustration, but who do not recognise his 
claims to inspiration. They say, We admit that Sweden- 
borg in writing his theological works enjoyed a high 
degree of illumination or illustration ; yea, we are 
willing to admit that the degree of his illustration 
surpassed that of any other man whose works on 
theological and philosophical subjects have been pre- 
served to us, yet we hold that his illustration differed 
from that which is enjoyed by any other good man 
only in degree and not in kind. They therefore regard 
Swedenborg's theological works as his own in every 
respect, and deny that there is more of Divine authority 
contained in them than in the works and sermons of 
any other illuminated writer. They deny, therefore, 
that the Lord has effected His Second Coming through 
the instrumentality of Swedenborg, and profess the 
theory to which we have already alluded, viz., that 
the Lord's Second Coming and the descent of the New 
Jerusalem are progressive, and take place in the minds 



52 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

of men in general whether they are conscious of it 
or not. 

The theory of those who profess these views has 
recently been expressed by the following train of 
argument: 1 — "First, Divine Wisdom is infinite and 
inexhaustible ; secondly, each angel or man can only 
receive of this Divine fulness in part, and according 
to the degree to which his mind is open ; thirdly, in 
the communication of Divine Wisdom to any recipient 
mind that Divine Wisdom receives a tinge and 
assumes a form arising from the peculiarities of the 
mind into which it flows, its previous education, habits 
of thought, and individualities of feeling ; fourthly, in 
the expression of the Divine Wisdom which any mind 
receives, the habits of utterance, modes of arrange- 
ment, and style of proof peculiar to that mind must 
necessarily determine the method and manner." The 
writer then sums up this argument (which he credits 
to Swedenborg, but which we, in all deference, 
are compelled to attribute to him, and not to 
Swedenborg) in these words : " (i) Divine Truth 
communicated to any mind is accommodated to 
the capacity of the recipient ; (2) Divine Truth per- 
ceived in any mind is modified by the intellectual 
character of the percipient; (3) Divine Truth ex- 
pressed by any mind follows the ordinary style to 
which the mind is accustomed. The only exception 
to these three principles is in the case of personal and 
plenary inspiration, in which the writer is no more than 
an amanuensis of the Divine Wisdom, the very words 

1 Minutes of the General Conference of the New Church in Great 
Britain, 1873. 



SWEDENBORG'S INS P IRA TION. 5 3 

which he records being the very words of the Lord. 
Such was the inspiration of the Word, but to which 
no addition will ever be made." 

From this statement we see that those who hold 
these sentiments maintain that there is only one kind 
of inspiration, viz., that by which the letter of the 
Word was communicated, " but to which," as they 
say, " no addition will ever be made ; " and we see 
also that the writer who penned this statement, asserts 
(1) that the doctrines of the internal sense, when they 
were communicated by the Lord to Swedenborg, were 
accommodated by him to Swedenborg's capacity ; (2) 
that these doctrines, as perceived by Swedenborg, were 
modified by his intellectual character ; by which the 
writer means that these doctrines, upon passing through 
Swedenborg's mind, " received a tinge and assumed a 
form arising from the peculiarities of his mind, his 
previous education, his habit of thought, and his in- 
dividualities of feeling ; " (3) that these doctrines, when 
expressed by Swedenborg, followed the ordinary style 
to which his mind was accustomed — by which the 
writer means, again, that " the habits of utterance, the 
modes of arrangement, and the style of proof peculiar 
to Swedenborg, necessarily determined the method 
and manner " in which these doctrines were expressed 
by him. 

The writer, as may be seen by a reference to his 
argument, has not specially applied the same to Swe- 
denborg, but he has applied it to all men, with " the 
only exception " of those who were " personally and 
plenarily inspired " in writing the letter of the Word. 
As Swedenborg, however, was not one of those by 



54 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

whom the letter of the Word was written, he is, 
therefore, logically included by the writer among all 
the men on the other side to whom all those limita- 
tions in the reception of Divine Truth apply which 
are specified by him in his argument. 

It appears, therefore, that the writer in the above 
argument has expressed the sentiments of those who 
maintain that Swedenborg, in conveying the doctrines 
of the New Jerusalem to mankind, was in a state of 
illustration similar to that which is enjoyed by all 
good men who are regenerated by the Lord, and that 
his illustration differed from theirs not in kind, but 
only in degree, i.e. in the degree existing between 
more and less. 

Those, indeed, who attribute to Swedenborg a high 
degree of illustration, but who deny that he was in- 
spired by the Lord, sometimes put the state of his 
illustration so high, that it almost seems as if they 
believed in his inspiration. So the very writer from 
whom we have quoted says immediately before his 
argument, " In order that he might know and under- 
stand, Swedenborg was permitted to see the facts of 
the spiritual world ; but to preserve his mind from 
receiving any impressions from spirits, his source of 
mental guidance and illumination was from the Lord 
alone, the method of that illumination was that of 
rational perception infused into his mind, and the 
times at which this illumination was granted were while 
he was devoutly ' reading the Word.' " 

If the writer had made this statement alone, and 
had said nothing before and nothing after it, the most 
zealous advocates of the Divinity of the teachings 



SWEDENBORGS INSP1RA TION. 5 5 

contained in Swedenborg's theological writings might 
hail him as the expounder of their own belief; for if 
" Swedenborg was permitted to see the facts of the 
spiritual world," and if he had " rational perception 
infused into his mind from the Lord while he was 
reading the Word," there is nothing but the truth, 
and nothing short of the truth contained in his writings, 
and truth is Divine and infallible. But these same 
attributes, of Divinity and infallibility which the writer 
apparently accords here to Swedenborg's teachings, 
in the very next paragraph he denies to him by de- 
claring that the letter of the Word alone, " to which 
no addition will ever be made," is inspired, and hence 
infallible and of Divine authority. 

We believe that these arguments were made in good 
faith, and that the writer and those that favour his 
ideas are far from desiring to break down the authority 
of the writings of the New Church ; yet it is evident, 
also, that additional rational light is required on the 
subjects of "illustration" and "inspiration," in order 
that the members of the Church may be enabled to 
distinguish clearly wherein Swedenborg's " illustra- 
tion" differed from that of other good men in the 
Church, and wherein his " inspiration " differed from 
that of those persons through whom the letter of the 
Word was written. 

Both " illustration " and " inspiration " are caused 
by the Lord's presence with, and His influx into, 
man ; but as the Lord is present with man, and flows 
into his spirit with His Holy Spirit or His Divine 
Proceeding, which is called in the writings of the 
Church the Divine Truth, it is necessary that we 



56 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

should first of all have a clear idea of the Divine 
Truth. Let us, therefore, briefly state the doctrine 
of the Church on this subject : — 

(36.) "The Divine Truth which is from the Lord is the only thing 
from which is everything else ; for that which is the first is the only 
thing in that which follows and which is derived, because the latter is 
from the former " {A. C. 9407). " Divine Truth is the Lord in heaven, 
because the Lord is Good itself and Truth itself: for both proceed from 
Him; and what proceeds from Him is He Himself; hence the Lord 
is heaven : for the Divine Truth, which is from Him, and which is 
received by the angels, makes heaven" {A. C. 9503), 

(37.) " Divine Truth proceeds from the Lord both immediately and 
mediately. That which proceeds immediately is above every under- 
standing of the angels ; but what proceeds mediately is accommodated 
to the angels in heaven, and also to men ; for it passes through heaven, 
and puts on an angelic and human quality. But into this truth the 
Lord flows also immediately, and He thus leads the angels and men 
both mediately and immediately: for all things in general and in 
particular are from a First Esse, and order was so instituted that the 
First Esse should be present in the derivatives both mediately and 
immediately, thus equally in the last or ultimate as in the first of its 
order" [A. C. 7004). 

The mode in which the mediate Divine Truth is 
derived from the immediate Divine Truth is as fol- 
lows : — 

(38.) "As the Divine Truth which proceeds immediately from the 
Lord is from the very Infinite Divine, therefore it cannot be received by 
any living substance which is finite, thus not by any angel ; wherefore the 
Lord created successive substances by which, as by mediations, the 
Divine Truth proceeding immediately might be communicated. But 
the first successive medium derived from it is still too full of what is 
Divine, so that it cannot yet be received by any living substance which 
is finite, and thus not by any angel ; wherefore the Lord created another 
successive medium, by which the Divine Truth proceeding immediately 
might be received as to some portion. This successive medium is the 
Divine Truth which is in heaven. The first two derivations are above 
the heavens, and are like radiant belts from a flaming substance encom- 



SWEDENBORGS INSPIRATION. 57 

passing the sun, which is the Lord. Such is the successive order even 
to the heaven which is nearest to the Lord, which is the third heaven, 
where are those that are innocent and wise. Hence these successions 
are continued even to the last heaven, and from the last heaven even to 
man's sensual and corporeal degree, which receives influx in the last 
place. It hence appears that there are continuous successions from the 
First, i.e. from the Lord, even to the last things which are with man — 
yea, to. the last things which are in nature. The last things which are 
with man, as well as in nature, are comparatively inert, and hence cold, 
and they are comparatively general, and hence obscure. It appears, 
also, from this, that by these successive mediations there is a continuous 
connection of all things with the First Esse. According to these 
successions influx takes place; for the Divine Truth, which proceeds 
immediately from Divine Good, flows in successively; and on the way, 
or around each new successive medium, it becomes general, and thus 
grosser and more obscure, and it becomes slower, and consequently 
more inert and colder. It hence appears what is the Divine order of 
successive mediations, and hence of the various kinds of influx. 

"It must be well understood, however, that Divine Truth, which 
flows into the third heaven which is nearest the Lord, flows in even into 
the last things of order without any successive mediation, and there 
rules and provides each and everything immediately from the First. It 
is thus that the successive things are kept in their order and connection" 
[A. C. 7270). 

The various degrees of the mediate Divine Truth 
which are thus formed are described in A. E. 62J, as 
follows : — 

(39.) "Divine Truth in its descent proceeds according to degrees from 
the supreme or inmost to the lowest or last. Divine Truth in the 
supreme degree is such as is the Divine which proceeds immediately 
from the Lord ; thus, such as is the Divine Truth above the heavens : 
as this is infinite, it cannot come to the perception of any angel. But 
Divine Truth of the first degree is that which comes to the perception 
of the angels of the inmost or third heaven ; this is called Divine Truth 
Celestial, and from this is the wisdom of these angels. Divine Truth of 
the second degree is that which comes to the perception of the angels 
of the middle or second heaven, and which constitutes their wisdom 
and intelligence, and is called Divine Truth Spiritual. Divine Truth 



58 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

of the third degree is that which comes to the perception of the angels 
of the ultimate or first heaven, and which constitutes their intelligence 
and knowledge, and is called Divine Truth Celestial-natural and Spiritual- 
natural. But Divine Truth of the fourth degree is that which comes to 
the perception of the men of the Church living in the world, and which 
constitutes their intelligence and knowledge : this is called Divine Truth 
Natural. The ultimate or last of this is called Divine Truth Sensual. 
These various kinds of Divine Truth are in their order according to 
their degrees in the Word ; and the Divine Truth in the last degree, or 
in the last of order, is such as is the Divine Truth in the literal sense 
for infants, and for the most simple among men who are sensual." 
Compare also A. C. 8443. 

From these passages we learn that Divine Truth is 
indeed infinite and eternal, or " infinite and inexhaust- 
ible" — these are the attributes of the Divine Truth 
which proceeds immediately from the Lord ; but as 
this Divine Truth " cannot be received by any living 
substance which is finite, thus not by any angel," nor 
any man, therefore the Lord accommodated His Divine 
Truth to the reception of angels and men by creating 
"successive media," with which He clothes and encom- 
passes the Divine Truth which proceeds immediately 
from Himself. Hence the Divine Truth which proceeds 
mediately from the Lord. In this mediate Divine truth, 
we further learn, there are various degrees, and these 
degrees reach from the highest heaven to the plane of 
man's natural existence in the world; hence this Divine 
Truth is accommodated to the reception of the angels 
of each of the three heavens, to that of the spirits in 
the world of spirits, and to that of men in the natural 
world. And as man is created into the likeness both 
of the spiritual and of the natural worlds, it follows 
that in his spiritual part there are as many degrees as 
there are degrees in heaven, in the world of spirits, and 



SWEDENBORGS INSPIRATION. 59 

in the natural world taken all together, and that each 
of these degrees is formed and animated by a different 
degree of the Divine Truth which proceeds mediately 
from the Lord. 

This is an important truth, bearing strongly on the 
subject before us, viz., that the Divine Truth is accom- 
modated to each plane of man's thought before it even 
enters into his mind ; and as man's mind is created 
out of this very Divine Truth which proceeds mediately 
from the Lord, it follows that he is thoroughly pre- 
pared and accommodated to the reception of the 
Divine Truth, and that it is by no means necessary 
that this Divine Truth should " receive a tinge," or 
that its Divine quality should be impaired in any way 
whatsoever, by being received by man. It may receive 
a tinge, and its Divine quality may be impaired, but 
it does not necessarily follow. 

This accommodation of Divine Truth to every state 
of man's life, and hence to every state of his thought, 
is also a complete refutation of the charge of scepti- 
cism which is contained in the assumption that Divine 
Truth " receives a tinge," and thus is warped whenever 
it enters into an angelic or human mind ; from which 
it would follow that man can never receive the real 
truth as it proceeds from the Lord, but only an 
approximation to it, the real truth being like a 
phantom which ever retreats from him. This charge 
of scepticism is actually made against Swedenborg 
by the writer of the argument quoted above, for he 
declares that " Swedenborg's whole philosophy en- 
forces " this very scepticism. 

Besides, if Divine Wisdom or Divine Truth is 



60 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

necessarily " tinged " or warped whenever it is " com- 
municated to a recipient mind," this mind must pre- 
serve this quality even upon receiving the truths from 
the letter of the Word, which the writer admits to be 
the product of genuine and plenary inspiration. Yea, 
the human mind must preserve this quality upon 
receiving statements of the truth or expressions of 
opinion from finite human beings ; for if the letter of 
the Word receives a " tinge" upon entering man's 
mind, the words and ideas of every man must receive 
such a tinge, and be more or less warped, upon entering 
the understanding of every other man ; so that in that 
case we can never be sure that our own words are 
correctly received and understood by others. 

Let us be thankful, therefore, that man is able to 
receive the Divine Truth in the form in which it pro- 
ceeds mediately from the Lord, and that he can 
receive it in that form from the Lord without its 
receiving necessarily a tinge from his imperfect finite 
nature. 

We read further that the Divine Truth which pro- 
ceeds mediately from the Lord is contained in the 
Word of God " according to its various degrees ; " 
that, therefore, there is a degree in the Word of God 
accommodated to the angels of the celestial heaven, 
another to the angels of the second, a third to the 
angels of the first heaven, and an ultimate degree 
which is able to be received by men upon earth ; and 
as man's mind is formed in accordance with the form 
of heaven, it follows that there must be a degree in 
his mind capable of receiving the internal-natural, 
another the spiritual, and a third the celestial sense 



SWEDENBORG'S INS P IRA TION. 6 1 

of the Word, and that man may receive these various 
senses of the Word without their becoming necessarily 
tinged and warped upon being communicated to his 
mind. And from this it finally follows that Sweden- 
borg was able to receive from the Lord the doctrines 
of the celestial and spiritual senses of the Word with- 
out these doctrines becoming " tinged " or warped 
upon entering into his mind ; yea, that these doctrines 
could be communicated by the Lord to mankind 
through the instrumentality of Swedenborg without 
it being necessary in the least that " the method and 
manner " in which these doctrines were given should 
have been determined "by the habits of utterance, 
the modes of arrangement, and the style of proof 
peculiar to Swedenborg." 

As the Lord, however, has endowed man with the 
faculties of freedom and rationality, He has therefore 
granted him the power of receiving the Divine Truth 
or Divine Life either in the form in which it pro- 
ceeds from the Lord, or else to shape it into any form 
that he likes ; whence it follows that the receptive 
forms of man's mind determine the character and 
quality of the Divine Truth which he receives from 
the Lord. This, then, may seem to authorize the 
conclusion that Divine Truth or Divine Wisdom, upon 
being communicated to any human mind, receives a 
" tinge," and is shaped into man's own likeness. Such 
may be the case, but it does not necessarily follow ; 
for by the faculties of freedom and rationality which 
the Lord preserves intact in every human being, He 
imparts to him the power of receiving pure and 
inviolate the Lord's Divine Truth, i.e. the Divine 



62 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

Truth which proceeds mediately from the Lord ; and 
if he allows himself to be regenerated by the Lord, 
he becomes in time, as to his internal and external 
man, a pure vessel of the Divine Truth proceeding 
mediately from the Lord, in which this does not 
receive the slightest " tinge " or aberration. Still, as 
he remains for ever finite, he can never receive the 
whole of the Divine Wisdom in his mind ; yet this 
does not, and cannot, prevent the Lord Himself from 
making use of a human being in revealing by his 
means as much of His mediate Divine Truth as men 
are able to receive. And as it is admitted by all 
believing Christians that the Lord has made use of 
human instrumentality in revealing to mankind the 
whole of His sensual Divine Truth which is contained 
in the letter or the literal sense of Scripture, those 
that believe in the spiritual sense of Scripture, 
i.e. who believe that the Lord's mediate Divine 
Truth is also in the natural, spiritual, and celestial 
heavens, are bound to believe that the Lord could 
make use of human instrumentality in revealing to 
mankind the Divine Truth as it is in heaven, i.e. as 
much of it as mankind in this world are able to 
receive. 

We have seen thus far that man is able to receive 
the Divine Truth proceeding mediately from the Lord 
without warping it or imparting a tinge to it. We 
shall now investigate the conditions under which he 
is able to receive the Divine Truth in this pure and 
uncontaminated form ; but in order to base this inves- 
tigation on a solid rational foundation, we must con- 
tinue the discussion of mediate and immediate Divine 



6 1 WEDENBORGS INS P IRA TION. 63 

Truth from the writings of the New Church, and show 
the influx of these two kinds of truth into the human 
mind : — 

(40.) "There are three kinds of good which constitute the three 
heavens : (1) The good of love to the Lord, which is called celestial 
good, and constitutes the inmost heaven; (2) the good of charity 
towards the neighbour, which is called spiritual good, and constitutes 
the second heaven; and (3) the good of faith, which is called natural- 
spiritual good, and constitutes the first heaven. Into the celestial 
good, which is of the inmost heaven, the Lord flows immediately from 
His Divine Humanity ; into the spiritual good, which is of the second 
heaven, the Lord flows in from His Divine Humanity, and also mediately 
by celestial good ; and into natural-spiritual good, which is of the 
ultimate heaven, the Lord flows in immediately, and likewise again 
mediately. It is said here ' likewise mediately,' because the Lord flows 
into the goods of these heavens not only mediately, but also imme- 
diately" {A. C. 10,270). 

And again we read: — "That which flows in immediately arranges, 
and that which flows in mediately is arranged; so it is in the exte- 
rior-rational [or spiritual degree], and also in the natural " {A. C. 
5150). 

As man is a least heaven, and as his mind is there- 
fore organized into three degrees corresponding to the 
three heavens, it follows from the above that the Lord 
flows immediately into the celestial degree of his mind, 
and that He flows in immediately, and likewise medi- 
ately, first into his spiritual, secondly into his natural, 
and finally into his sensual or corporeal degree, by 
the last of which he is enabled to live as a human 
being in the natural world. 

The Lord, as we see here, flows immediately into 
each degree of man's spiritual nature from His Divine 
Humanity. Every one of the degrees constituting 
man's spiritual nature was glorified by the Lord in 



64 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

His Divine Humanity. There is hence in the Lord's 
Divine Humanity a celestial, a spiritual, a natural, 
and a corporeal degree, and from these degrees the 
Lord can flow immediately into the celestial, spiritual, 
natural, and corporeal degrees with man ; but into 
each of these degrees, with the exception of the 
celestial, the Lord flows in also mediately by the 
heavens. 

These two influxes interpenetrate one another, they 
being related like heat and light ; yet of the immediate 
influx man is utterly unconscious, because it is Divinely 
human, but of the Lord's mediate influx through 
heaven he becomes conscious, because this has put on 
a heavenly, and thus a human form, as may appear 
from the following important passage : — 

(41.) "The Divine Truth proceeding immediately from the Lord's 
Divine Humanity can neither be heard nor perceived by any man, and 
not even by any angel. In order that it may be heard and perceived 
there must be mediation, which mediation takes place by heaven, and 
thus by the angels and spirits with man. This may be shown clearly 
from this circumstance, that man cannot even hear the spirits who are 
with him conversing with one another ; and if he could hear them, he 
could not have any perception, because the language of spirits is without 
human expression, and is the universal of all languages. And, further, 
spirits cannot hear angels : and if they heard them, they would have no 
perception, for the language of angels is still more universal. Yea, the 
angels of the inmost heaven can still less be heard and perceived, 
because their language is not the language of ideas, but of the affections 
belonging to celestial love. If now these modes of speech are so far 
removed from man that they cannot on any consideration be heard and 
perceived by him, how much less can the Divine language, which is infi- 
nitely above the modes of speech in heaven, be heard and perceived by him ! 
I have said here ' Divine language,' but there is meant by it the Divine 
Truth proceeding from the Lord's Divine Humanity. Such being the 
case, it may appear that in order that the Divine Truth proceeding from 
the Lord may be heard and perceived, it must pass to man by media- 






6- WEDENBORGS INS P IRA TION. 65 

tions. The last mediation is by the spirit who is with man, and who 
flows in either by his thought or by the living voice. 

"That the Divine Truth proceeding immediately from the Lord can 
neither be heard nor perceived, appears also from correspondences, and 
hertce from representatives : inasmuch as that which is spoken by man 
is presented differently before spirits ; and what is spoken by spirits is 
presented differently before angels, as may appear from the spiritual 
sense of the Word and its literal sense. For the literal sense which is 
accommodated to man is representative and significative of the things 
of the spiritual sense ; which sense cannot be perceived by man, except 
in proportion as it may be presented and expounded by such things 
as belong to the world and nature; and still less can the angelic 
sense be thus perceived. And how much less can the Divine Truth 
which proceeds immediately from the Lord's Divine be thus per- 
ceived, as it is infinitely above the understanding of the angels, and 
cannot be perceived in heaven, except in proportion as it has flowed 
through heaven, and put on a form accommodated and suitable to the 
perception of those who are there. This takes place by a wonderful 
influx which cannot be comprehended by any one " {A. C. 6996). 

There flows, then, into man immediate influx from 
the Lord's Divine Humanity, of which he is utterly 
unconscious, and the Lord's mediate influx through 
the heavens which is accommodated to the state of 
his consciousness, and these two influxes flow into 
each of the degrees of which man's spiritual nature is 
composed. Let us inquire now, where in each of 
these degrees are the receptacles of immediate, and 
where are those of mediate influx. To this question 
we obtain the following answer : — 

(42.) "The truth which proceeds immediately from the Divine 
enters into man's will — this is the way; but the truth which proceeds 
mediately from the Divine enters into man's understanding " {A. C. 
7056). 

We see, therefore, that the Lord by His immediate 
influx is present in man's will, and by His mediate 
influx in man's understanding, and by His presence 

E 



66 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

in man's will He causes his freedom of will (D. L. W. 
264), and by His presence in man's understanding 
his faculty of reason or his rationality (A. C. 5668). 

Such is the doctrine of the New Church on the 
subject of immediate and mediate influxes from the 
Lord, and their reception by man, and for the sake of 
convenient reference we shall now summarize its 
teachings : — 

I. The Divine Truth proceeding immediately from 
the Lord's Divine Humanity is understood by im- 
mediate influx. This influx takes place from the 
various degrees of the Lord's Divine Humanity, and 
by means of it the Lord flows immediately into the 
celestial, the spiritual, the internal-natural, and the 
external-sensual degrees of man's spiritual nature. 
This influx, of which man is totally unconscious, is 
received by him in his will, and the reception of this 
influx causes in him his freedom of will. 

II. The Divine Truth proceeding mediately from 
the Lord's Divine Humanity is understood by mediate 
influx. This form of Divine Truth is encompassed 
by the Lord with several successive media before it 
reaches heaven, and additional media are added to it 
as it proceeds from the higher to the lower heavens, 
and finally to man. This influx is received by man 
in his understanding, and by this influx there is im- 
parted to man his faculty of reason or his rationality. 

A summary statement of other portions of this 
doctrine, with references to the writings of the New 
Church, we herewith subjoin : — 

III. Mediate influx, again, is of a twofold nature, 
for it may either be general or particular. The general 



SWEDENBORGS INSPIRATION. 67 

influx is from the Grand Man of heaven in general ; 
the particular influx from the angels and spirits that 
are associated with man {A. C. 5850, 5862). The 
particular influx by the angels is from the Lord, and 
is determined by the Lord ; but the particular influx 
by spirits is determined by man himself (A. C.4067, 

4073)- 

IV. Before regeneration, and in the beginning of 
regeneration, man is associated with spirits from the 
world of spirits, mostly evil ; the influx from these 
spirits takes place into man's understanding, and by 
the understanding into his will, and this influx is 
wonderfully tempered and directed by the Lord's 
immediate influx into man's will (A. C. 9683). Where- 
fore man before regeneration and during regeneration 
is governed by the Lord's immediate influx (A. C. 
8685). 

V. When man's regeneration is accomplished, then 
he no longer governs himself, but is governed by the 
Lord ; and then the Lord governs him not only by 
immediate influx into his will, but also by mediate 
influx into his understanding. Then also will and 
understanding, good and truth, mediate and immediate 
influx in him, are conjoined (A. C. 7056). 

After this preliminary investigation into the nature 
of immediate and mediate influx, we are enabled to 
approach intelligently the subjects of revelation, in- 
spiration, and illustration, and here we must first 
direct the attention of the man of the Church to the 
twofold nature of revelation, which is most clearly 
described in the following passage : — 

(43.) " Revelations are either from perception or from speech with 



68 A UTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

angels through whom the Lord speaks. It must be observed that 
those who are in good, and hence in truth, especially those who are in 
the good of love to the Lord, have revelation from perception ; and 
that those who are not in good, nor in truth thence, may indeed have 
revelations, not however from perception, but by a living voice heard 
within them, and thus by angels from the Lord. This revelation is 
external, but the other internal. Revelation from perception is enjoyed 
by the angels, and especially the celestial angels ; it was also enjoyed 
by the men of the most ancient Church, by a few of the ancient, but 
scarcely by any one at the present day. Revelations from speech 
without perception, however, were received by many, even by such as 
were not in good ; they were received also through visions or dreams. 
Most of the revelations that took place by the prophets in the Jewish 
Church were of that nature : they heard a voice, saw a vision, and 
dreamt a dream ; but as they had no perception, they were merely 
verbal or visual revelations, and they did not perceive what was 
signified thereby. For genuine perception exists through heaven from 
the Lord, and affects the intellectual faculty in a spiritual manner, 
leading it perceptibly to think in accordance with the real nature of 
things, and which is likewise connected with an internal assent of 
which one does not know the source. The person enjoying such per- 
ception supposes it to be intrinsically in himself, and to flow from the 
connection of things ; yet it is a dictate flowing in from the Lord by 
heaven into the interiors of his thought, and conveying instruction 
on such things as are above the natural and sensual, i.e. on such things 
as belong to the spiritual world or heaven. The nature of revelation 
from perception may hence be known" (A. C. 5 121). 

We see, therefore, that there are two kinds of 
revelation ; there is internal revelation or " revelation 
from perception," and external revelation or "revela- 
tions from speech, also from visions or dreams, with- 
out perception." We further learn that internal 
revelation existed " with the men of the most ancient 
Church, with a few of the ancient, but scarcely with 
any one at the present day ; " while external revela- 
tions took place with the " prophets in the Jewish 
Church." It is therefore distinctly stated here that 






SWEDENBORG'S INSPIRATION. 69 

internal revelation was not limited to the men of the 
most ancient Church, but that it existed also with " a 
few of the ancient Church ; " and the possibility is 
even admitted of such internal revelation existing at 
the present day, although it is said that " it scarcely 
exists with any one at the present day." 

In this passage, also, external is not placed above 
internal revelation. It is not stated that the revela- 
tion made to the Jews was preferable to that which 
was made to the men of the most ancient Church ; 
nor is it stated that Divine Truth upon being internally 
revealed to man " receives a tinge, and assumes a form, 
arising from the peculiarities of the mind into which 
it flows, its previous education, habits of thought, and 
individualities of feeling," and that it is excepted from 
these modifications when revealed externally to men, 
that is, " in the case of personal and plenary inspiration, 
in which the writer is no more than an amanuensis of 
the Divine Wisdom, the very words he records being 
the very words of the Lord." No such distinction is 
made at all in the passage under consideration, and 
not the slightest reason is given from which we may 
infer that internal revelation is inferior to external 
revelation, or that it is less Divine. 

It is by such internal revelation that the doctrines 
of the internal sense of the Word of God were 
revealed by the Lord to Emanuel Swedenborg, 
and on that ground we maintain that the revelation 
of Divine Truth made through him is as fully 
Divine, and comes to us with the same force of 
Divine authority as does the letter of the Word of 
God, which was communicated by external revelation. 



70 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

And, again, if the writers of the letter of the Word, 
who were instructed by external revelation, were in- 
spired by God what to write, and if both external and 
internal revelation are of Divine origin and of the 
same Divine authority, it follows that Swedenborg 
also was inspired by the Lord in writing the doctrines 
of the internal sense of the Word of God ; but that 
while the prophets and evangelists were externally 
inspired, Swedenborg was internally inspired. 

Swedenborg's inspiration therefore, we maintain, 
was internal, while that of the writers of the letter of 
the Word was external ; and the nature and the con- 
ditions of this internal inspiration are described by 
him in the passage just read, in these words : — " It is 
to be observed that those who are in good, and hence 
in truth, especially those who are in the good of love 
to the Lord, have revelation from perception. . . . 
Genuine perception exists through heaven from the 
Lord, and affects the intellectual faculty in a spiritual 
manner, leading it perceptibly to think in accordance 
with the real nature of things, and it is likewise con- 
nected with an internal assent, of which one does not 
know the source. The person enjoying such percep- 
tion supposes it to be intrinsically in himself, and to 
flow from the connection of things ; yet it is a dictate 
flowing in from the Lord by heaven into the interiors 
of his thought, and conveying instruction on such 
things as are above the natural and sensual, i.e. 
on such things as belong to the spiritual world or 
heaven." 

In these words, we maintain, Swedenborg describes 
one of his own states ; and we maintain, further, that 



.9 WEDENBORGS INS P IRA TION. 7 1 

unless he had been in this state he could not have 
described it. 

But let us endeavour to throw additional light on 
the subject of internal revelation or of internal in- 
spiration ; and this we do by bringing to bear upon it 
the doctrine of mediate and immediate influx, and 
especially the principle contained in No. V. of our sum- 
mary statement of that doctrine, which is as follows : — 
" When man's regeneration is accomplished, then he 
no longer governs himself, but is governed by the 
Lord ; and then the Lord governs him not only by 
immediate influx into his will, but also by mediate 
influx into his understanding. Then also will and 
understanding, good and truth, mediate and immediate 
influx in him, are conjoined." For, as we shall pre- 
sently see, the conjunction of mediate and immediate 
influx in man is but another expression of those con- 
ditions under which he is able to receive from the 
Lord " revelation from perception," or internal in- 
spiration. Besides, if we have a clear conception of 
the states in which these two Divine influxes are 
and are not conjoined in man, we shall be able 
to discriminate more precisely between internal and 
external inspiration, and also to define rationally 
that state in which man is neither internally nor 
externally inspired. We read : — 

(44.) "Those who think and teach in accordance with the truth of 
their Church in which they are confirmed, and also who do not know 
whether these things are true except from this consideration that they 
were drawn from the doctrines of their Church and transmitted by 
learned men who are in illustration ; with these there may exist the 
truth proceeding mediately from the Divine, but still it is not conjoined 
with the truth which proceeds immediately from the Divine ; for if it 



72 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

were conjoined they would be in the affection of truth for the sake of 
truth, and especially for the sake of life : and hence also they would be 
gifted with the perception as to whether the doctrinals of their Church 
were true before confirming themselves in them ; and they would also 
see in each single thing whether the things confirming agreed with the 
truth. 

" The prophets, by whom the "Word was written, wrote as the spirit 
from the Divine dictated ; for the very words which they wrote were 
enunciated in their ears. With them was the truth which proceeds 
mediately from the Divine, i.e. by heaven; but not so the truth 
which proceeds immediately from the Divine; for they had no per- 
ception of what each single thing signified in the internal sense ; because 
when these two are conjoined, then, as was said above, there is per- 
ception. 

" This conjunction exists very rarely with man, but it exists with all 
in heaven, and especially with those who are in the inmost or third 
heaven ; nor does it exist with man before he is regenerated so far 
that he can be elevated above his sensual, even towards his rational, 
and thus continue in the light in which the angels are. 

" With every man there is immediate, as well as mediate, influx; but 
conjunction of the two exists only with those who have perception 
of truth from good ; for those with whom the immediate Divine 
influx is conjoined with the mediate allow themselves to be led by the 
Lord, but those with whom these two influxes are not conjoined lead 
themselves, and love this" {A. C. 7°55)- 



This passage is important, because Dr. Beyer, a 
personal friend of Swedenborg, referred to it in his 
valuable Index to Swedenborg's Theological Works 
(vol. i. p. 466) in defining the nature of Swedenborg's 
perception. 

From this passage we learn, on the one hand, that 
those with whom the mediate and immediate influxes 
are conjoined are "in the affection of truth for the 
sake of truth, and especially for the sake of life," and 
that " they allow themselves to be led by the Lord ; " 
and, on the other hand, we learn that "this conjunc- 



SWEDENBORGS INSPIRATION. 73 

tion exists with all in heaven, and especially with those 
who are in the inmost or third heaven," and also that 
"it exists with man when he is so far regenerated that 
he can continue in the light in which the angels are." 

From this it follows that the conjunction of mediate 
and immediate influx, which is productive of a state 
of perception, is caused by regeneration ; and while 
it would result from this that Dr. Beyer, in applying 
this passage to Swedenborg, attributed to him an 
advanced stage of regeneration, this passage never- 
theless also proves that with all other regenerate per- 
sons there is likewise a conjunction of mediate and 
immediate influx, and from this it would seem to 
follow that they also are able to come into a similar 
state of perception. 

We quite agree that this appears to be a legitimate 
conclusion from this passage ; yet if this conjunction 
" exists with all in heaven," there must be differences 
in this conjunction. At least, this conjunction must 
differ in the first, second, and third heavens ; for the 
Divine Truth, both that which proceeds mediately 
and that which proceeds immediately from the Lord, 
differs in each of the heavens (see numbers 39 and 
40) ; besides, the good in which this conjunction is 
effected (A. C. 7056) likewise differs in each of the 
heavens ; and if this conjunction which causes per- 
ception is different in each of the heavens, it follows 
that the perception resulting thence must also differ 
in degree. 

If, however, the conjunction of mediate and im- 
mediate influx differs so much among the angels of 
heaven, it must differ in like manner with the men 



74 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

who suffer themselves to be regenerated by the Lord 
on earth. A man, therefore, will be endowed with a 
different degree of perception, according as his mind 
by regeneration has been opened either to the first, 
second, or third degree, and as he by regeneration 
becomes associated with angels either of the first, 
second, or third heaven. 

It is only when he is regenerated as to his celestial 
degree, thus when he is no longer animated by spiri- 
tual, but by celestial love, that he is in the condition 
in which he may be " internally inspired," or " receive 
revelation from perception." When he is regenerated 
only as to his spiritual degree, thus when he loves the 
truth for the sake of truth, and not so much for the 
sake of good, then he is in a state of illustration, but 
not in a state of perception, and the revelation he 
receives is " revelation from illustration," but not 
" revelation from perception," which is quite a different 
thing. That there is such a difference between illus- 
tration and perception is very evident by the follow- 
ing passage : — 

(45.) "Those who love the truth for the sake of truth are in illus- 
tration, and those who love truth for the sake of good are in perception " 
{A. C. 10,290). 

That the same difference exists between " revelation 
from illustration," and '•' revelation from perception," 
appears from a rational consideration of the following 
passages : — 

(46.) "There is a revelation which does not take place with a loud 
voice, but interiorly in man. This revelation is caused by an illustra- 
tion of the internal sight, which is the understanding, when a man who 



SWEDENBORGS INSPIRATION. 75 

is in the affection of truth from good reads the Word. The light of 
heaven, which is from the Lord as a sun there, causes this illustration ; 
and by this light the understanding is illustrated scarcely otherwise than 
the external sight, which is of the eye, is illuminated by the light of the 
world. When the understanding is enlightened by this Divine light it 
perceives that to be true which is true ; it acknowledges it interiorly in 
itself, and sees it in a certain manner. Such is the revelation of those 
who are in the affection of truth from good when they read the Word. 
Those, however, who are in the affection of truth from evil, thus who 
desire to know truths simply on account of honours, gains, fame, and 
the like, see only confirming proofs of the doctrinals of their Church 
whether they be true or false " (A. C. 8780). 

This same revelation, which exists with the man 
whose spiritual degree is opened, and who is influenced 
by the love of truth for the sake of truth, is described 
in the following passage : — 

(47.) "The quality of the revelation which they have who are in 
good, and thence in the affection of truth, cannot be described; it is 
not manifest, nor is it altogether hidden ; but it is a certain favouring 
and consent from the interior that a thing is true, and a disfavouring if 
it is not true. When there is a favouring, the mind is serene and at 
rest, and in this state there is the acknowledgment which is of faith. 
The cause of this is an influx of heaven from the Lord ; for through 
heaven there comes from the Lord the light which beams around and 
enlightens the understanding, which is the eye of internal sight. Those 
things which then appear in that light are true; for this light itself is 
the Divine Truth which proceeds from the Lord " (A. C. 8694 : com- 
pare also T. C. R. 231). 

From these passages we learn that those who have 
revelation by illustration " are able by their under- 
standing to perceive that to be true which is true, to 
acknowledge it interiorly in themselves, and to see it 
in a certain manner," we see also that this revelation 
consists in " a certain favouring and consent from the 
interior that a thing is true, and a disfavouring if it is 
not true ; " this state also is identical with faith in its 



76 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

genuine sense. Every one who is in a state of good, 
and who loves the truth for the sake of truth, comes 
into such a state of illustration, and receives from the 
Lord that " revelation " which has been described in 
these two passages. Yet Swedenborg expressly de- 
clares, "The Lord teaches every one by the Word, 
and He teaches him from the knowledges that are with 
him, and does not immediately pour into him new 
knowledges" (T. C. R. 208; compare also A. C. 3508, 
10,400 ; A. E. 825). 

We see, therefore, that the state of illustration which 
is attained by the men of the Church generally when 
they " are in good, and thence in the affection of truth/' 
does not enable them to receive new truths from the 
Lord. It therefore does not enable them to make 
additions to the doctrines of the internal sense of the 
Word, nor would it have enabled Swedenborg, if he 
had enjoyed only this kind of illustration, to receive 
the doctrines of the New Jerusalem from the Lord in 
the first place. 

Swedenborg, therefore, enjoyed a higher state of 
illustration, yea, he enjoyed perception from the Lord, 
and the revelation with which he was gifted by the 
Lord was " the revelation from perception," which has 
been described before; with Swedenborg, therefore, 
the Divine Truth which proceeds mediately from the 
Lord was conjoined with the Divine Truth that pro- 
ceeds immediately, in the same manner and in the 
same degree, in which they are conjoined with the 
angels of the third heaven, and he therefore enjoyed 
that perception which is described in the following 
passage : — 



SWEDENBORG'S INSPIRATION. 77 

(48.) " Instruction on every point of doctrine takes place when the 
truth which proceeds immediately from the Lord's Divine is conjoined 
with the truth which proceeds mediately, for then perception is given. 
This conjunction takes place principally with the angels who are of the 
third or inmost heaven, and who are called celestial. They have the 
most exquisite perception of both kinds of truth, and hence of the 
Lord's presence ; because they are in good above others, for they have 
the good of innocence : hence they are nearest the Lord, and are in 
refulgent and almost flaming light ; for they see the Lord as a sun, and 
its rays of light are of such a quality on account of th.eii^ proximity to 
it " (A. C. 7058). 

From this passage, in connection with our former 
number on this subject (No. 44), we learn that in order 
"to receive instruction on every point of doctrine 
from the Lord by perception," man must possess the 
following requirements : — 

(a) He must be in good (No. 48). 

(J?) He must have a most exquisite perception of 
both kinds of truth, the mediate and the immediate, 
and hence of the Lord's presence (No. 48). 

(c) He must be able to see the Lord as a sun 
(No. 48). 

(d) He must be regenerated so far that he can be 
elevated above his sensual, even towards his rational, 
and thus be able to continue in the light in which the 
angels are (No. 44). 

Our object will now be to prove that all these con- 
ditions were fulfilled by Swedenborg. 
(a) Swedenborg was in a state of good. 

(49.) "It was observed, and also instilled into my mind, that every- 
thing that a man has done in the life of the body returns in the other 
life; for there are perpetual changes of state, into which a man is intro- 
duced ; so that there is not a single state of the life of the body which 
does not return in the other life; consequently hatreds, and the like, 



78 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

which a man has not only done, but also thought. . . . But it is to be 
observed that with the evil, all the evils which they have done and 
thought return in a most vivid manner : while with those who are in 
good and in faith such is not the case ; for with them all the states of 
good, of friendship, and of love return with the greatest delight and 
felicity. Experimental proof that there was no evil with me" (S. D. 
4109). 

(b) Swedenborg had an exquisite perception of the 
Divine Truth proceeding mediately and immediately 
from the Lord, and hence of the Lord 's presence. 

The peculiar perception which Swedenborg enjoyed 
both while reading the Word and while he was as to 
his spirit in the spiritual world, will be described more 
minutely hereafter; for the present the following 
passages will suffice to confirm this statement : — 

(50.) "It was given me to perceive distinctly what came from the 
Lord [immediate influx], and what from the angels [mediate influx]; 
what came from the Lord I wrote down, and what came from the angels 
I did not write down" (A. E. 1183). 

(51.) "During an hour's time it was shown to me by experience how 
all thoughts are directed by the Lord. It was an influx like that of an 
extremely soft and almost imperceptible stream, the source of which 
does not appear, and which yet leads and draws. That which flowed 
in from the Lord led every series of my thoughts in succession, and 
although gently, yet so powerfully, that I could by no means stray away 
into other thoughts. I tried to do so, but in vain " {A. C. 6474). 

(c, d) Swedenborg was able to see the Lord as a 
sun, and he was regenerated so far that he could be 
elevated above his sensual, even towards his rational, 
and thus continue in the light in which the angels 
are. 

That Swedenborg was capable " of being elevated 
above the sensual degree, even towards the rational, 
and of continuing in the light in which the angels 



SWEDENBORGS INSPIRATION. 79 

are," is clearly proved by the statement he made in the 
T. C. R. 851, to which additions might easily be made 
from other parts of his writings, viz., " It was given 
me to be in the spiritual world with the angels for 
upwards of twenty-seven years." The nature of his 
intercourse with the angels of heaven, and at the same 
time the quality of the light which he enjoyed there, 
he describes thus : — 

(52.) " I have been in conversation with spirits and angels now for 
many years, nor did any spirit dare, nor any angel wish, to tell me 
anything, and still less to instruct me in anything in the Word, or in 
any point of doctrine drawn from the Word ; but the Lord alone taught 
me, who revealed Himself to me, and afterwards appeared, and still 
appears, before my eyes like the sun, in which He Himself is, such as 
He appears to the angels, and illustrated me " (D. P. 135). 

Finally, that Swedenborg was in a celestial state, 
and hence enjoyed the perception of truth peculiar to 
that state, he himself declares in so many words on 
the fly-leaf of one of his Biblical Indexes, where he 
has marked the very date when he was introduced 
into that state. This memorable passage, which has 
been reproduced on the last page of vol. x. of his 
photo-lithographed MSS., reads as follows : — " 1747, 
August 7, old style [of reckoning] : There was a change 
of state in me into the celestial kingdom in an image " 
{inutatio status in me, in cceleste regnum, in imagine). 

But what does Swedenborg mean by his statement 
that there has been " a change of state in him into 
the celestial kingdom in an image " ? An answer to 
this question is found on the last page of a tract on 
which he was engaged a short time before his death, 
and which contains the full plan of his unfinished 



80 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

Coronis. It was printed by Dr. Immanuel Tafel in 
Appendix I. to his Latin edition of the Spiritual Diary. 
We read there : — 

(53.) " In place of the miracles that were done in the Church before 
the Lord's Coming, at the present time there has been a manifesta- 
tion of the Lord Himself, an introduction into the spiritual world, 
and there, by immediate light from the Lord, illustration in such things 
as constitute the interiors of the Church ; but principally an opening of 
the spiritual sense of the Word, in which the Lord is in His Divine 
light. These revelations are not miracles ; for every man as to his spirit 
is in the spiritual world, yet without being separated from his body in 
the natural world. In my case, however, there is a certain separation, 
but only as to the intellectual part of my mind, and not as to my will- 
part" (pp. 168, 169). 

As to his intellectual part, therefore, Swedenborg 
was removed from the trammels of space and time, 
but not as to his will-part ; and by this is meant, that 
although his will-part was regenerated as to the 
celestial degree, yet it remained as much tied down 
to his body on earth as it remains tied down with all 
those on earth who are becoming, or have become, 
regenerated as far as the celestial degree of their 
minds. How much this being tied down to the body 
in the natural world affects the spiritual state of those 
who become regenerated in this life, is shown in the 
following passage : — 

(54.) "The illustration of the natural mind [i.e. of man in the natural 
world] does not ascend by discrete degrees, but it increases in a con- 
tinuous degree, and in proportion as it increases there is illustration 
from the interior by the light of the two superior degrees.- The natural 
mind may, therefore, be elevated even into the light of heaven in which 
the angels are, and may perceive naturally, and thus not so fully, what 
the angels perceive spiritually; but, nevertheless, the natural mind of 
man cannot be elevated into the very light of the angels. When man's 



SWEDENBORGS INSPIRATION. 81 

natural mind is raised into the light of heaven, he can think and even 
speak with the angels ; but then the thought and speech of the angels 
flow into the natural thought and speech of the man, and not vice versa ; 
on which account the angels speak with man in natural language, thus 
in his mother-tongue. This takes place by a spiritual influx into the 
natural, and not by any natural influx into the spiritual. Human 
wisdom, therefore, which is natural as long as man lives in the natural 
world, cannot on any consideration be raised into angelic wisdom, but 
only into a certain image of it " (Z>. L. W. 256, 257). 

From all of this we learn, that since Swedenborg as 
to his intellectual part could be separated from his 
natural body, he could receive from the Lord by 
perception " instruction on every point of doctrine," 
even as this is received by the angels of the highest 
heaven who are in perception from the Lord (see No. 
48), and he could thus obtain from the Lord that 
internal revelation which consists in " a dictate flow- 
ing in from the Lord by heaven into the interiors of 
the thought, and conveying instruction on such things 
as are above the natural and sensual, i.e. on such 
things as belong to the spiritual world or heaven" 
(see No. 43). 

No man in this world can come into such a state 
of perception, even if he should be regenerated to the 
same high degree in which Swedenborg was, unless 
his intellectual part be separated from his natural 
body in the way, in which this was the case with 
Swedenborg. This is, however, such an exceptional 
state that presumably no one after Swedenborg wuT 
ever come into a like state, even as no one before 
him had ever been in such a state. This is asserted 
by him in the following clear language : — 

(55-) "The manifestation of the Lord and introduction into the 
F 



82 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

spiritual world, is superior to all miracles. This has not been granted 
to any one since the creation as it has been to me. The men of the 
golden age, indeed, conversed with the angels ; but it was not granted 
them to be in any other than natural light ; but to me it was granted 
■ to be at the same time in natural and in spiritual light. It was granted 

(to me thereby to see the wonderful things of heaven, to be among the 
angels like one of them, and at the same time to imbibe truths in light, 
,' and thus to perceive and teach them, and consequently to be led by the 
/ Lord " (Invitatio ad Novam Ecclesiam, No. 52, contained, in the 
Spiritual Diary, Appendix I. p. 157). 

This exceptional state was granted by the Lord 
only to Swedenborg, because he was to be the instru- 
ment through whom the Lord would effect His Second 
Coming. Yet while Swedenborg was thus able to be 
separated as to his intellectual faculty from his natural 
body, and to associate with the angels of heaven 
and enjoy their measure of perception, as to his will- 
faculty he was not separated from his natural body. 
As to the state of his good, therefore, he remained 
subject to all the limitations of the natural world. 
As to his understanding he was released from the 
bondage of nature and mingled with the angels as 
their equal, but as to his will he remained on the 
earth and was a man among men ; as to truths and 
doctrines, he was able to penetrate into their least 
particulars like the angels of the highest heaven, 
but as to his good he remained in generals. On 
this account, also, he says that " there was a change 
of state in me into the celestial kingdom in an image" 
even as we read that human wisdom, as long as man 
lives in the natural world, i.e. as long as his intel- 
lectual faculty remains bound to his natural body, 
cannot " on any consideration be raised into angelic 



SWEDENBORG'S INSPIRATION. 83 

wisdom, but only into a certain image of it" (see 
No. 54). 

If, therefore, Swedenborg as to his will-part, or as 
to his good, remained in the generals belonging to the 
natural world, even though this general good was the 
image of the highest celestial good, it is altogether 
unreasonable to maintain that the truths which he was 
able to see, corresponded to his state of goodness, or 
that the state of his illustration depended upon his 
regeneration. 

But if, on the contrary, the truth which Swedenborg 
was enabled to see did not correspond to the state of 
his good, or if his truth was not the form of his good, 
then this truth could only have been instilled into him 
by the Lord Himself, and thus be communicated to 
him only by a process of internal revelation or internal 
inspiration. 

We see, therefore, that the mode by which the 
nature of Swedenborg's illustration or inspiration is 
accounted for by many, that it was the result of his 
regeneration, and thus was modified and determined 
by the state of his good, cannot be correct ; and that 
the other idea, which has likewise been advanced, 
that it depended entirely on the state of his rational 
mind as to truth, and thus was independent of his 
state of good, has more of truth in it Yet, in pro- 
portion as those who hold this second idea maintain 
that Swedenborg's state of inspiration was entirely 
independent of the state of his regeneration, in the 
same proportion also their idea becomes incorrect and 
faulty. For, as we had already occasion to show, the 
state of Swedenborg's regeneration, or the state of his 



84 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

good, was a most important factor in introducing him 
into his state of inspiration. The precise share, how- 
ever, which good has in all cases of illustration, per- 
ception, and inspiration will appear from a considera- 
tion of the following passages : — 

(56.) "Illustration and apperception cannot exist unless there is 
affection or love, which is spiritual heat, to impart life to those things 
which are illustrated by light, comparatively as the light of the sun 
does not give life to plants, but the heat in the light, as appears from 
the seasons of the year" {A. C. 3138). "When a man is in good, and 
from good in truths, he is raised into the Divine light, and according 
to the quantity and quality of good into such as is more or less interior. 
Hence he has general illustration in which he sees innumerable truths 
which he perceives from good ; and he is then led by the Lord to 
apperceive and appropriate those that are suitable to himself, and this 
in respect to the most singular things in order, according as it is con- 
ducive to his eternal life" {A. C. 9407). "The light of truth with a 
man is altogether according to the state of his love ; in proportion as 
the love is kindled, the truth shines; for the good of love is the very 
vital fire, and the truth of faith the very intellectual light which is 
intelligence and wisdom : they must proceed at a like pace " (A. C. 
10,201). 

(57.) "All illustration is from good; for the good of love is com- 
paratively as the flame of the sun which is heat and light ; but truth is 
as the object through which the flame shines — hence illustration is by 
light, and according to the quality of the light thence, so is the illus- 
tration. Truth alone receives good, but according to the quality of the 
truth such is the reception and such is the illustration. "When, there- 
fore, there is illustration by truth, then there is an appearance as if the 
illustration was from truth, when yet it belongs to the good which 
shines through the truth in this manner " {A. C. 3094). 

(58. ) " The Lord flows in and is present with a man in his good which 
he receives from the Lord : for good constitutes the man himself, and 
every one is such as is his good. By good is understood love, for all 
that is loved is called good. It is thought that the Lord is present 
in the truth of what is called faith ; but He is not present in truth 
without good ; but when there is good, then the Lord is present in the 
truth by good, and He is present in it in the same proportion in which 
it leads to good, and in which it proceeds from good" {A. C. 10,153). 






S WEDENBORGS INSPIRA TION. 85 

As the Lord is present with a man in good, and as 
He flows into the good that is with him, and by the 
good into his truth, and as according to the quality and 
the degree of good, such is the quality and the degree 
of the illustration, and thus of the perception which he 
receives from the Lord, it hence follows that the Lord 
was present with Swedenborg also in his good, and 
that He flowed into him by good, and that according 
to the excellency of the good in Swedenborg was the 
excellency of the illustration that he was able to 
receive from the Lord. It was therefore not only 
important, but it was even absolutely necessary, that 
Swedenborg should have been in a most advanced 
degree of regeneration, in order to receive from the 
Lord the highest possible illustration which He is 
able to accord to human minds. 

Besides, the conjunction of mediate and immediate 
influx, which was ascribed by Dr. Beyer to Sweden- 
borg, and which is the indispensable condition by 
which angels and men are able to come into a state 
of perception from the Lord, takes place exclusively 
in good, as we read in the following passage : — 

(59.) "The conjunction of the truth immediately proceeding from 
the Divine with the truth which proceeds mediately, can only take 
place in good, consequently only if a man is affected with truth for the 
sake of truth, and especially for the sake of good, and consequently for 
the sake of life ; for then the man is in good. How it is with this con- 
junction may also appear from this consideration : the truth which 
proceeds immediately from the Divine enters into man's will — this is 
its way ; but the truth which proceeds mediately from the Divine 
enters into man's understanding; wherefore this conjunction cannot 
take place unless the will and the understanding act as one, i.e. unless 
the will will the good, and the understanding confirm it by the truth ; 



86 A UTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

when this conjunction therefore takes place, the Lord appears as though 
He were present, and His presence is also perceived ; but if the con- 
junction does not take place, then the Lord is as it were absent ; but 

C His absence is not perceived unless it be known from some perception 

s ;what His presence is" [A. C. 7056). 

Swedenborg's regeneration, or the state of his good, 
had therefore very much to do with his inspiration ; 
for it enabled him to receive the Lord's influx, and 
also to perceive it, yet it did not determine the measure 
of his inspiration ; for not only was he as to his intel- 
lectual faculty separated from his natural body, which 
was the result of a special act of Divine Providence, 
and did not depend upon his state of goodness ; but 
the measure of illustration with man in general is also 
actually determined by the truths and the knowledges 
of the truth which are in his understanding, and 
which are the ultimate vessels in his mind receptive 
of Divine influx. 

This is another most important particular which is 
not sufficiently taken into consideration by those who 
maintain that the doctrines of the internal sense of 
the Word are incomplete in their present form, and 
that they require to be supplemented by other men 
who are able to come into a like state of illustration 
to that which was enjoyed by Swedenborg. For in 
order to supplement Swedenborg's work they would 
have to be not only in a similar state as to good, but 
also in a similar state as to truths or knowledges. 
They would, therefore, have to acquire the same 
enormous amount of natural knowledge which Swe- 
denborg accumulated during the first fifty-seven years 
of his life, and, besides, all that supernatural knowledge 






SWEDENBORGS INSPIRATION. 87 

which he acquired during the twenty-eight or twenty- 
nine years his spiritual sight was opened. 

That the measure of a man's illustration is deter- 
mined by the knowledges of the truth with him, is 
proved from No. 57, where we learn that "all illustra- 
tion is by good," i.e. that no one who is not in good 
can be in illustration ; but where this statement is at 
the same time qualified by this declaration : " Truth 
alone receives good, but according to the quality of 
the truth, such is the reception and such is the illus- 
tration." 

As the importance of knowledges or of receptive 
vessels in illustration or perception is frequently under- 
rated, or even ignored, in the New Church, we propose 
to give the doctrine of the Church on this subject in 
extenso : — 

(60.) " Without the knowledges of what is good and true the natural 
cannot be illustrated from, or by, the rational ; hence it cannot be 
regenerated. Knowledges are the recipient vessels of the good and 
truth which flow in by the rational. According to the quantity and 
quality of the reception by the vessel will be the quantity and quality 
of the illustration" {A. C. 3508). 

(61.) " By instruction the interiors and thus the internals are formed 
and adapted for the reception of the goods of love and the truths of 
faith, and thus for the perception of good and truth : for no one ca,7i 
perceive what he does not know and believe; hence he cannot be gifted 
with the faculty of perceiving the existence and the quality of the good 
of love and the truth of faith, except by knowledges" {A. C. 1802). 

(62. ) ' ' The Lord teaches every one by the Word, and He teaches hint 
from the knowledges that are with him, and does not immediately pour 
into him new knowledges " (T. C. R. 208). 

" The man who is led by the Lord is taught by Him from day to 
day what he is to do and to speak, and also what he is to preach and 
write ; for when evils are removed, then he is continually under the 
Lord's auspices, and enjoys illustration. But he is led and taught by 



88 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

the Lord, not immediately by any perceptible inspiration, but by influx 
into his spiritual delight, whence he has perception according to the 
truths of which his understanding is composed''' 1 {A. E. 825). 

Moreover, that the measure of the doctrine of the 
internal sense which man is able to receive from the 
Lord depends altogether " upon the light in which he 
may be by the knowledges that are with him," is very 
clearly stated in the following passage : — 

(63.) "The doctrine which ought to serve man as a lamp, that he 
may know the Divine Truths of the Word, in the sense of the 
letter — is taught by the internal sense, and thus it is the internal 
sense itself. This is in a certain way open to every one who is in 
an external from the internal, i.e. whose internal man is opened, even 
though he should not know what the internal sense is. For heaven, 
which is in the internal sense of the Word, flows in with that man 
when he reads the Word; it illustrates him and gives him percep- 
tion, and thus it teaches him. Yea, if you are willing to believe it, 
man's internal man is in the internal sense of its own accord ; for it 
is a heaven in the least form, and it is with the angels in heaven 
when it is open, wherefore it is also with them in a like percep- 
tion. This may appear from the consideration that the interior intel- 
lectual ideas of a man are not of the same quality as his natural ideas, 
although they correspond to them. Their quality remains unknown to 
a man during his life in the body, but he comes spontaneously into them 
when he enters into the other life, because they are inherent in him, 
and by them he is at once in the consort of angels. It hence appears 
that a man whose internal is opened is in the internal sense of the 
Word, although he is not aware of it. Hence he has illustration when 
he reads the Word, but this illustration is according to the light in which 
he may be by the knowledges that are with him " [A. C. 10,400). 

This is a most important passage, for it affirms in 
the first place that the illustration in which a man may 
be, although it depends internally upon his state of 
good, yet is qualified outwardly by " the knowledges 
that are with him " — that, therefore, if any man would 






S WEDENBORGS INS P IRA TION. 89 

enjoy the same state of illustration as Swedenborg, 
he must not only be in the same degree of good in 
which he was, but he must also possess the same 
amount of knowledges ; and by knowledges are here 
meant knowledges from the Word of God, and also 
such knowledges as were acquired by Swedenborg 
by the opening of his spiritual sight. And in the 
second place we learn, that although the internal 
sense is open to every one who is " in an external 
from the internal," i.e. to every one who is regenerated, 
he yet remains unacquainted with the quality of the 
internal sense " during his life in the body," while "he 
comes spontaneously into this knowledge when he 
enters into the other life." In the natural world " he 
has illustration while reading the Word," but this 
illustration is only most general as long as his under- 
standing is encompassed with, and bound down to, 
the natural body ; but as soon as his understanding is 
released from the prison of the material body, and as 
soon as it is freed from the trammels of space and 
time, he comes spontaneously into a knowledge of 
the " quality " of the internal sense, and is thus able 
to describe it. 

We see, therefore, that in order to describe the 
quality of the internal sense, i.e. in order to describe 
not only the generals, but also the particulars, of the 
internal sense, it is not sufficient to be in a state of 
good by regeneration, and to have an understanding 
most richly stored with knowledges, but it is also 
necessary that the intellectual faculty should be 
severed from the bonds of space and time, that the 
man therefore should have the sight of his spirit 



90 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

opened, and that as to his intellectual nature he should 
be in consort with angels. 

Suppose, therefore, that a man in this world were 
able to come into the same state as to good, and 
into the same state as to knowledges in which Sweden- 
borg was, yet if as to his intellectual faculty he was not 
separated from the body in the same manner as Swe- 
denborg was, he would not be able to see the par- 
ticulars, but only the generals of the internal sense of 
Scripture ; he would, therefore, not be able to describe 
the doctrines of the internal sense as to their quality, 
and hence would not be able to supplement any imagi- 
nary deficiencies of the doctrine of the internal sense. 

If, however, it be insisted upon that every man is 
able to have his spiritual sight opened, we answer 
that Swedenborg himself declares in No. 55 that 
this gift in his own case was exceptional, that it 
was not enjoyed by " the men of the golden age," and 
that " it has not been granted to any one since the 
creation." 

We see, therefore, that the state and the degree of 
Swedenborg's illustration, or of his inspiration, did not 
depend upon the state of his will or of his good alone, 
nor upon the state of his rational understanding, or 
upon that of his knowledges alone ; nor even upon 
the regeneration of his will, combined with a most 
thorough development of his rational understanding 
by a proper insemination of knowledges — for even 
this state, although indispensable to Swedenborg, he 
might yet have had in common with other members of 
the Church, who might possibly have passed through a 
like state of instruction and study, and have reached 



SWEDENBORGS INSPIRATION. 91 

an equally exalted state of regeneration — but the 
distinctive feature of his inspiration consisted in the 
fact of his having been separated as to his intellectual 
part from his natural body, and of having been 
thereby enabled to see the Divine Truth from the 
Lord in the same light in which it is received and 
perceived by the angels of the highest heaven.- 

As the important bearing of the opening of Swe- 
denborg's spiritual sight upon his capacity " of re- 
ceiving the doctrines of the New Church in his 
understanding" (T. C. R. 779) is usually not taken 
properly into account by the members of the New 
Church, and as it is even thought by some that the 
condition upon which his illumination rested was not 
of an internal, but of an external, nature, and that 
" the times at which his special illumination was 
granted were only while he was devoutly ' reading the 
Word,' " l it will be necessary to consider this subject 
at greater length. 

The first use of the opening of Swedenborg's spiri- 
tual sight, as we have already seen, was to provide in 
his understanding the necessary vessels or knowledges 
for the reception of the doctrines of the internal sense, 
i.e. of the Divine Truth which proceeds mediately 
from the Lord as this exists in the heavens. That 
Swedenborg, by his experience in the other world, 
was able to receive this Divine Truth, and thus the 
doctrine of the internal sense, in his rational mind, 
and thereby to obtain a rational understanding of 
the same, is plainly stated by him in the following 
passage : — 

1 Minutes of the Conference of the New Church, 1873, p. 49. 



92 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

(64. ) " Many of the interior things of the Word of God-Messiah cannot 
be learned from the experience of this human race, but have to be learned 
from the ancients and from spirits. 

" There are many things in the Word of God-Messiah, as well in the 
Old as in the New Testaments, which cannot but be unintelligible ; the 
reason however is, that the human race living at the present day is 
altogether changed compared with those that lived in the Ancient, and 
after that in the primitive Christian, Church. If they had lived in 
those times, they might have known it very well from experience and 
from revelation in themselves ; yet it may be known still better from 
the state of the spirits and the human souls that now fill the lowest 
sphere of heaven. This also is the reason why I am permitted to 
adduce from them experiences of things altogether obliterated now-a- 
days, and thus to supply this state of ignorance " (S. D. 200). 

The use, however, of these experiences, or of the 
knowledges concerning the other world, which Sweden- 
borg was enabled to collect by the opening of his 
spiritual sight, was not only to enable him " to receive 
the doctrines of the internal sense in his understand- 
ing," but also to enable us, his readers, to obtain a 
rational understanding of these doctrines. This we 
read in what follows : — 

(65.) "Since by the Lord's Divine Mercy it was given me to know 
the internal sense of the Word, and as in that sense are contained 
things of a most hidden nature which have never before come to any 
one's knowledge, and which can never be known unless the nature of 
the things in the other world be made known, because so very many of 
the things contained in the internal sense have respect thereto, and 
describe and involve them ; therefore I am permitted to disclose those 
things which I have now heard and seen for several years, during which 
time I was allowed to be present with spirits and angels " {A. C. 67). 

The chief reason, however, why Swedenborg's intel- 
lectual nature was separated from his natural body, 
and why the Lord opened his spiritual sight, or the 
sight of his internal understanding, was that he might 



S WEDENBORGS INS P IRA TION. 93 

see and describe the particulars of the internal sense as 
these are seen and understood by the angels of heaven, 
and so be removed out of the ultimate sensual light in 
which the doctrines of the internal sense appear to 
men upon earth (compare No. 54). This is princi- 
pally stated by Swedenborg in the following passage : — 

(66.) " The internal or spiritual sense, and the arcana of the state of 
the Church in the heavens and on the earths, which are contained in 
that sense, cannot be revealed to any one unless he know that sense, 
and unless it be granted to him at the same time to have consort with the 
angels, and to speak spiritually with them " (L. J. 42). 

Yet it was not the mere fact of his understanding, 
by its coherence with the body, being confined to the 
general principles of the natural world which pre- 
vented him from perceiving the doctrines of the in- 
ternal sense ; for these doctrines might have appeared 
to him in some general light if he had enjoyed the 
same advantages as are enjoyed by the members of 
the New Church in the possession of his writings, or 
if his mental constitution had been the same as that 
of the men of the Most Ancient Church (see A. C. 
4493), although with them also their intellectual 
nature was not separated from the natural body, and 
they were able to see Divine Truth only in the general 
light of the natural world, and not in the particular 
light of the spiritual world (see No. 55). As an 
additional reason why it was necessary for Sweden- 
borg to be separated from his body as to his under- 
standing, he says : — 

(67.) " In order that the true Christian religion might be manifested, 
it was absolutely necessary that some one should be introduced into the 
spiritual world, and derive from the Lord's mouth genuine truths from 
the Word ; for to do this from the false churches which exist at the 



94 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

present day, where it is impossible to see a single genuine truth from 
the Word, except such as is encompassed with, and steeped in, falsities, 
and coheres with falsities, would be like attempting to sail to the 
Pleiades, or like undertaking to dig out the gold which is in the centre 
of the earth " {Invitatio ad Novam Ecclesiam, No. 38). 

Swedenborg therefore had his spiritual sight opened, 
and was permitted by the Lord to associate with 
spirits and angels in order to escape the perverse 
teachings of the churches upon earth ; wherefore also 
it is strictly true that the doctrines of the New 
Church were brought down by Swedenborg from 
heaven to earth, or as it is stated in the Book of 
Revelation (xxi. 2), " I John saw the holy city, New 
Jerusalem, coming down Jrom God out oj heaven? 
Still, as the internal sense is the Word of God as it 
exists among the angels of heaven, it was even neces- 
sary that in order to bring down out of heaven the 
doctrines of the internal sense, Swedenborg should 
see these doctrines in the very same light in which 
they are perceived by the angels ; wherefore we read 
in No 53 that Swedenborg "was introduced into the 
spiritual world," and that "there, by immediate light 
from the Lord, he was illustrated in such things as 
constitute the interiors of the Church ; " this he 
corroborates in what follows : — 

(68.) "In order to teach the way to heaven, and likewise the truths 
of the Church from the Word, the Lord was pleased to prepare me 
from my earliest youth for the perception of the Word. He introduced 
me into the spiritual world, and illuminated me with the light of His 
Word more proximately" {Invitatio ad Novam Ecclesiam, No. 55). 

Swedenborg's " preparation from his earliest youth 
for the perception of the Word," consisted no doubt 






SWEDENBORGS INSPIRATION. 95 

in the regeneration of his will, and in the development 
of his rational mind by the study of the letter of the 
Word, and the natural sciences in general ; yet he 
underwent also a certain preparation for that separa- 
tion of his intellectual faculty from the natural body 
by which he was to be enabled to continue in consort 
with spirits and angels. This preparation is described 
by him in the following passage, where, after first 
enumerating the various kinds of respiration which 
prevail in the world of spirits and in heaven, he 
continues : — 



(69.) "I was first accustomed to this respiration in infancy while 
saying my morning and evening prayers, and also sometimes afterwards 
while exploring the concordant action of the heart and lungs, and 
especially while writing from my mind those things that have been 
published. I then noticed for several years that there is a tacit respira- 
tion which is scarcely perceptible ; about this also it was granted to me 
afterwards to think and speak. In this wise I was introduced from my 
infancy into such respirations, especially by intense speculations in 
which respiration is quiescent : for otherwise no intense speculation as 
to the truth can exist ; and afterwards also when heaven was opened to 
me, so that I could speak with spirits, I was so entirely introduced into 
this respiration that for the space of almost an hour I did not draw in 
any breath ; there was only so much air drawn in that I was able to 
think. In this manner I was introduced by the Lord into interior 
respirations. Perhaps also in my dreams, for I noticed again and again 
that after falling asleep respiration was almost entirely withdrawn from 
me, so that on awakening I gasped for breath. This kind of respira- 
tion, however, ceases when I do not observe, write, or think any such 
thing, and reflect only upon this that I believe these facts, and that 
they take place in innumerable ways. Formerly I was not able to see 
these varieties, because I could not reflect upon them : yet now I am 
able to do so, because each state, each sphere, and also each society, 
especially the interior ones, have in me a suitable respiration, into 
which I fall without reflecting upon it. By this means it is also granted 
to me to be present with spirits and angels " {S. B. 3464). 



96 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

We see, therefore, that every faculty in Swedenborg, 
his will, his understanding, and his very body, had to 
be prepared by the Lord from his earliest childhood, 
so that in after years " the Lord could fill him with 
His spirit and enable him to teach the doctrines of 
the New Church by the Word from Him " (T. C. R. 

779)- 

As the opening of Swedenborg's spiritual sight 
depended upon the separation of his intellectual 
faculty from his natural body ; and as his under- 
standing could only be gradually emancipated from 
the limitations of the body, and be accustomed to 
breathe in the atmosphere of heaven, and to see in 
the light of the angels, therefore also different stages 
in the opening of his spiritual sight are recorded by 
Swedenborg himself. The first decided separation of 
his intellectual faculty from the body, and thus the 
first period when he had spiritual manifestations, was 
1743. 1 In 1744 he began to recognise the approach 

1 The spiritual manifestations which were experienced by Sweden- 
borg before the interiors of his mind were so far opened that he could 
converse with spirits, are described by him in the following passage : — 
' ' Before my mind was opened, so that I could converse with spirits, 
and thus be persuaded by living experience, there existed with me, for 
several years, such evidences, that I wonder now why I could not be 
persuaded then of the Lord's government by means of spirits : for I had 
not only dreams during several years, by which I was informed of the 
things which I wrote ; but I experienced also changes of state while 
writing, and there was a certain extraordinary light in the things 
written. Afterwards I had many visions with closed eyes, and light was 
given to me in a miraculous manner ; there was also an influx from 
spirits in a sensible manner, and the sensation was, indeed, as manifest 
as if it had been received by the bodily senses ; often there were infesta- 
tions in various manners by evil spirits when I was in temptations, and 






SWEDENBORG'S INSPIRATION. 97 

and departure of spirits and the nature of their influx ; x 
but it was only in 1745 that this separation was so 
far accomplished that he was actually admitted to an 
habitual intercourse with angels and spirits, while not 
until 1747 that final change took place in him con- 
cerning which he himself says that " there had been a 
change of state in him into the celestial kingdom in 
an imager That the separation of the internals of his 
understanding from his body, and hence his elevation 
into the light of heaven, was gradual, he clearly states 
in what follows : — 

(70.) "I was elevated into the light of heaven interiorly by degrees, 
and in proportion as I was elevated my understanding was elevated, so 
that I was finally enabled to perceive things which at first I did not 
perceive, and, finally, such things as it had been impossible for me to 
comprehend" (H. H. 130). 

As there were such marked degrees in the opening of 
Swedenborg's spiritual sight, the date of this opening 

afterwards, when writing anything that the spirits did not like, I was almost 
possessed by them so as to cause a shudder. I heard also some one 
talking early in the morning, besides many other things, until at last a 
spirit addressed me in a few words, when I was very much astonished 
at his perceiving my thoughts. I was astonished afterwards in a like 
manner when my mind was opened so that I could converse with 
spirits ; and the spirits themselves were surprised when they witnessed 
my astonishment : for so difficult is it for man to believe that he is 
governed by the Lord by means of spirits, and so difficult is it for him 
to give up the belief, that he lives his own life without any mediation 
of spirits" (S. D. 2951). 

1 On the 31st of August, 1747, Swedenborg wrote in his Spiritual 
Diary: "For nearly three years [about the middle of 1744] I was 
allowed to perceive and notice the operations of spirits, not by a 
sort of internal sight, but by a sensation which is associated with a sort 
of obscure sight, whereby I noticed their presence, which was various, 
their approach and departure, besides many other things " (S. D. 192). 

G 



98 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

would differ accordingly as the first or the more 
advanced stages of it are taken into consideration. 
Swedenborg himself, up to the year 1753, declared uni- 
formly in favour of the year 1745, 1 from 1753 to 1767 
he just as uniformly was in favour of the year 1744, 2 

\Cf. Adversaria, L, 943, 1003; II., 87, 135, 1285, 1684, 1957 ; 
III., 1 129, 3102 ; IV., 4682, 7572 ; Spiritual Diary, Nos. 821, 1 166, 
1974, 2099, 2739, 3058, 4228. 

2 {a.) In the Spiritual Diary, No. 4618, we read : "From eight to nine 
years I was in constant consort with spirits and angels." No. 4573 was 
written on August 6, 1752, so that No. 4618 must have been written 
very soon after, either in 1752 or 1753, which would give the 
year 1744. 

[6. ) In A. C. 6200 (contained in vol. v., published in 1753) it is 
stated : " Continuously for nine years I was in the consort of spirits and 
angels. " As this passage occurs in the latter part of the volume, it may 
be supposed to have been written in the year in which it was printed, 
which would give 1 744. 

[c.) H. H. 1 : ' " For thirteen years it was granted to me to speak 
with the angels." As the last volume of the Arcana had been finished 
in 1756, this work was undoubtedly written by Swedenborg in the year 
1757, although published only in 1758, which gives 1 744. 

{a 7 .) E. U. 1 : "It was granted to me for twelve years to converse 
daily with spirits. " This work is a reprint of the memorable relations 
published by Swedenborg in the Arcana Ccelestia from 1753 to 1756, 
from which work it was, no doubt, compiled by Swedenborg in 1756, 
although it was not published by him until 1758, which again 
yields 1744. 

(<?. ) D. W. {A. E.) vii. 2 contains the following corroborating 
passage: — "I had daily intercourse with angels and departed men 
from the year 1744." There can be no doubt whatever about the 
genuineness of this figure, as this may be verified by reference to the 
photo-lithographic copy of this treatise in vol. viii. of the Swedenborg 
MSS. p. 42, line 5 from the bottom of the page. 

(f.) D. L. IV. 355: " I have perceived the influx from the spiritual 
world in a perceptible and sensible manner for nineteen years' con- 
tinually." This passage is contained at the close of Part IV., and 
therefore may be supposed to have been written in the same year when 
published, viz., 1763, which would give us the year 1744. 



6- WEDENBORGS INSPIRA TION. 99 

and from 1767 to the time of his death he pronounced 
in favour of the year 1743. 1 

As Swedenborg in proportion to his increase in 
spiritual light antedated the opening of his spiritual 

(g.) Con. L. J. 35 : "The Lord has been pleased to open the eyes of 
my spirit, and to keep them open for nineteen years." There is no 
doubt that this little work was written by Swedenborg in the same year 
in which it was published, viz., 1763, which would give us the year 

1744- 

{h. ) In the year 1765 Swedenborg declared to the Royal Librarian, 
C. C. Gjorwell, that "the Lord had appeared to him in May 1744, 
while he was in London." 

(**.) In his letter to Prelate CEtinger, dated Nov. n, 1766, Sweden- 
borg says: "I have been speaking with the angels for twenty-two 
years, " and afterwards adds, " Heaven has been opened to me since 1 744. " 

1 (a.) C- L. 1: "The Lord has opened the interiors of my mind now 
for twenty-five years." {b.) C. L. 419: " I observed the influx from the 
spiritual world in a perceptible and sensible manner continuously for 
twenty-five years." If we take the year of the publication of this 
work, viz., 1767, we obtain the year 1743. 

(c. ) In his letter to the Rev. T. Hartley, which was written in 1 769, 
and published by Mr. Hartley in 1770, Swedenborg states that "the 
Lord appeared before him in 1743." 

(d.) In his letter to the Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt, written in 
1771, Swedenborg says: " The Lord manifested Himself in person be- 
fore me, and sent me to fill this office in 1743." 

(e.) T. C. R. 157: "I have been in the spirit, and at the same time 
in the body, for twenty-six years." (/) T. C. R. 851, " The interiors 
of my mind have been opened now for twenty-seven years." As 
Swedenborg states (71 C. R. 791) that this work was finished on 
June 19, 1770, it follows that the earlier portion of this work was written in 
1769, and the later in 1770, which, in both cases, gives us the year 1743. 

(£:) As early as 1776 some of the believers in the doctrines of the 
New Church doubted whether 1743 was the proper date of the opening 
of Swedenborg's spiritual sight, and C. F. Nordenskold wrote to 
Dr. Beyer to ask him whether that number was not written by a slip of 
the pen. Dr. Beyer answered in a letter, dated March 23, 1776, 
" There is no slip of the pen in the year 1743, but it agrees with all the 
dates given in the books." 



ioo AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

sight, it seems but fit and proper that we should 
accept his final judgment in this matter, and declare 
likewise in favour of the year 1743 ; with the under- 
standing, however, that the opening of his spiritual 
sight was progressive, that there was a distinct step 
made by him in 1744, another in 1745, and still 
another in 1747, from which period he dates the 
publication of his theological writings in the only 
printed list which he published of these writings 
(see C. L. 328). 

Let us now investigate more minutely the effect 
which the opening of Swedenborg's spiritual sight or 
the separation of his intellectual faculty from his body 
had upon the quality of his perception. 

No. 43 describes the " revelation from perception " 
which was enjoyed " by the men of the most ancient 
Church, by a few of the ancient, but scarcely by any 
one at the present day ; " this " revelation from per- 
ception," which is internal and not external, as we 
have proved, Swedenborg enjoyed by virtue of his 
regeneration, and by virtue of the thorough storing of 
his mind with knowledges from the Word, and with 
knowledges obtained by a study of the natural 
sciences. 

This perception was intrinsically the state of his 
perception before the opening of the spiritual sight 
was added to it; yet he was unable even then to 
come into the full enjoyment of this perception, 
because he lacked the necessary knowledges of true 
doctrine from the Word (see No. 66). 

The first effect of the opening of Swedenborg's 
spiritual sight on the nature of his perception was, 



SWEDENBORGS INSPIRATION. 101 

therefore, to supply to his rational mind the needful 
knowledges of the doctrines of the internal sense of 
the Word (see Nos. 64, 65) ; and the next effect was 
that he was able to recognize the source of the influx 
whence he obtained his perception ; and herein his per- 
ception differed from that of every other human being. 
That this faculty was possessed by Swedenborg 
appears plainly from Nos. 50 and 51, and also from 
the following passages : — 

(71.) " It was granted to me to perceive when I was in my own, or 
in my proprium, and when I was not in my own ; and while I was in 
my own, I was good for nothing ; wherefore I was removed from it by 
the Lord as much as possible " {S. D. 5464). 

(72.) "I think interiorly, and perceive what flows into my exterior 
thought, whether it is from heaven or from hell ; the latter I reject, and 
the former I receive ; and yet it appears to me as if I thought and 
willed from myself "'{£). -P. 290). 

The kind of perception which Swedenborg enjoyed 
is also described by him in what follows : — 

(73.) "Those to whom the Lord has granted perception are able to 
know who in a society, and who outside of a society, flow into their 
thoughts and into their speech ; and, indeed, in a most exquisite 
manner, by the good pleasure of the Lord " (S. D. 2100). 

(74.) Those who are led by the Lord have a certain interior percep- 
tion or intuition in respect to those things which are to be done, 
especially during the act of doing ; which perception is so manifest with 
those who are led by the Lord, that it is given to them to perceive, 
which things happen from the Lord's good pleasure, which from His 
leave, and which from permission ; and these things are most distinct 
from one another, and their distinct perception is also granted ; but all 
this can only be comprehended by a man who is in a like state, the rest 
neither understand nor believe it, however it is described with all 
attending circumstances " {S. D. 892). 

It must not be thought, however, that, because 
Swedenborg, as to his intellectual faculty, was sepa- 



102 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH 

rated from the body, and was thereby able to be 
present in the various heavens and converse with the 
angels, his thought was entirely removed from the 
plane of existence of the men upon earth, and that there- 
fore he thought and spoke altogether in an angelic 
and no longer in a human manner. This was not the 
case. Swedenborg continued in his former human 
condition. He thought and willed like other human 
beings ; but to his external human plane of thought 
there was added an internal which he had in common 
with the angels of heaven, and which enabled him to 
be as to his spirit with angels of the celestial heaven, 
and to think and breathe with them ; and it was this 
internal plane of thought by which he was illuminated 
by the Lord and received his revelations. Such an 
internal plane of thought is developed more or less 
with all men who are regenerated by the Lord, but 
they are not conscious of it ; and it expresses itself 
only in that most general way which is described in 
Nos. 46 and 47, and the reason of this is, that this 
internal plane of thought is not separated with them 
from the body or the natural mind, but is even 
attached to it, and encompassed with it as to all its 
particulars. But with Swedenborg this internal plane 
of thought was separated from the body, and hence 
from the natural mind ; and, as it was thus separated, 
he was able to become most thoroughly conscious 
of it. On that account he says in No. 72, " I 
think interiorly, and perceive what flows into my 
exterior thought, whether it is from heaven or from 
hell." 

This double plane of thought which existed in 






SWEDENBORG S INSPIRATION. 103 

Swedenborg is most minutely described by him in 
the following passages : — 

(75.) "lam gifted with a double thought; one which is interior, 
and another which is more exterior. Wherefore, whenever I am in 
consort with evil spirits, I can still be in consort with the good at the 
same time, and thus perceive of what nature the spirits are who desire 
to rule over me ; and this happens so often that I have grown quite 
familiar with it. If I did not know that I was in company with evil 
spirits, and that it is the spirits who think thus, and affect me, I should 
not know otherwise, but that it is I who am of such a nature, and who 
meditate such things" (S. D. 484). 

Again he says concerning this double thought : — 

(76.) "I spoke with the spirits concerning internal thought, and, that 
I might know its nature, external thought was taken away from me, so 
that I thought nothing from objects [i.e. from the things before the 
eyes] ; and although I scarcely thought of anything in reality, I still 
heard in this state what they said, but without reflecting upon it. It 
was brought to my recollection that I had been once for a long time in 
such a state, i.e. in interior thought, while thinking of my writings in 
the street, at table, and sometimes when in conversation with others, 
in which state I noticed nothing [around me]. Afterwards this double 
thought was manifestly perceived by me, and was exhibited before me, 
viz., an interior thought concerning such things as were submitted to 
the understanding, and as belonged to the objects of the senses ; as, 
for instance, upon reading the Word of God, I noticed this double 
thought manifestly and for a long time ; and likewise in the state in 
which I am now while writing, and most frequently while I am reading, 
when I hear the spirits speaking with me ; at such times this interior 
thought has been plainly noticed by me ; it was also observed by the 
spirits. He who has an interior thought has also an exterior thought " 
(S. D. 2900). 

In this interior thought the Lord was constantly 
present with Swedenborg, and He thence dictated to 
him what to write, what to speak, and what to do ; 
on this account also Swedenborg stated in his Spiritual 



104 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

Diary, No. 1647, " What I have learned from repre- 
sentations, visions, and from conversations with spirits 
and angels y is from the Lord alone!' The whole of 
this interesting passage is as follows : — 

(77.) "Whenever any representation, vision, or conversation took 
place, I was kept interiorly, and more interiorly in reflection about these 
things ; what was their use, what good flowed thence, and hence what 
I was to learn from them. No attention was paid to this reflection of 
mine by those who caused these representations and visions, and who 
spoke ; but sometimes they were indignant when they perceived that I 
reflected. / was therefore instructed by no spirit, a,7id by no angel, but by 
the Lord alone, from whom is everything good and true. Even when they 
wished to instruct me in many things there was scarcely anything but 
what was false ; wherefore I was forbidden to believe anything spoken 
by them, nor were they allowed to inject anything that was their own. 
Besides, when they desired to use persuasion I perceived from an 
interior and a more interior persuasion that a thing was so, and not 
as they wished to make me believe, at which they also wondered. 
This perception was very manifest, but it cannot be described to man's 
apprehension " (S. D. 1647). 

In referring to this passage in his Index {Reflectere, 
1647), Swedenborg says, "There was interior reflec- 
tion or perception given me by the Lord when I 
spoke with spirits, and when I saw representations." 

We see, therefore, that Swedenborg enjoyed this 
double thought not only " while reading the Word of 
God " (see No. 76), but also " when he spoke with 
spirits, and when he saw representations ;" and we 
see, further, that Swedenborg "was instructed by the 
Lord alone," not only "while reading the Word of 
God," but also while storing up in his mind "the 
things heard and seen in the spiritual world." As the 
Lord was thus constantly present with Swedenborg 
in his interior thought, and as He flowed into this 
thought with the Divine Truth proceeding immediately 



SWEDENBORG 1 S INSPIRATION. 105 

from His Divine Humanity ; and as Swedenborg was 
conscious of the Lord's presence and of His influx, 
he declares (see No. 50), " It was given me to 
perceive distinctly what came from the Lord, and 
what from angels — what came from the Lord I wrote 
down, but what came from the angels I did not write 
down." 

In order to show that this passage does not refer to 
a special case, but that Swedenborg describes here the 
ordinary state of perception with which he was gifted 
by the Lord, we propose to give this passage in full : — 

(78.) "They who are in the spiritual affection of truth are elevated 
into the light of heaven, even so as to perceive their illustration from 
the Lord. It was given me to see this illustration and to perceive from 
this illustration distinctly what comes from the Lord, and what from 
the angels ; what came from the Lord was written, and what camefrotn 
the angels was not written. It was given to me besides to speak with 
angels as one man with another man, and also to see those things which 
are in the heavens, and those which are in the hells. The reason of this 
is that the end of the present Church has come, and a new church is 
about to come which will be the New Jerusalem, to which it is to be 
revealed that the Lord rules the universe, — heaven, as well as the 
world ; that there is a heaven and a hell, and their quality ; that men 
live also as men after death — those who have been led by the Lord in 
heaven, and those who have been led by themselves in hell; that the 
Word is the Divine itself of the Lord on earth, and also that the last 
judgment has taken place, lest man expect this to eternity in his own 
world ; besides many other things which belong to the light which now 
rises after the darkness" (A. E. 1183). 

The great difficulty in obtaining a rational view of 
Swedenborg's inspiration consists in reconciling the 
freedom and rationality which he evidently enjoyed, 
with the fact of his writing in his works only the Lord's 
words and not his own. Yet by following up intelli- 



106 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

gently the subject of his double thought, we shall be 
able to obtain the requisite rational instruction. 

In a passage to which Dr. Beyer likewise refers us 
(see his Index, vol. i. p. 466), in pointing out the 
special perception which was enjoyed by Swedenborg, 
we read as follows : — 

(79.) " To which provinces angelic societies belong, maybe known 
in the other life from their situation, in respect to the human body, and 
also from their operation and their influx, for they flow in and operate 
upon that organ, and upon that member in which they are. Still their 
influx and operation can be perceived only by those who are in the 
other life, and not by man ; and only by him whose interiors have been 
so far opened ; and even then it cannot be perceived by him unless the 
Lord grants him sensitive reflection [i.e. reflection on what enters by the 
senses] to which perception is adjoined" (A. C. 5171). 

This " sensitive reflection," or this reflection on the 
things which enter into the external thought by the 
external senses, depended upon the use of Sweden- 
borg's own freedom and rationality; but the "percep- 
tion which was adjoined " to this reflection was caused 
by the Lord's immediate influx into Swedenborg's 
internal thought. This perception came from the 
Lord alone, and was beyond the control of Sweden- 
borg's freedom and rationality, wherefore we also read 
that it was adjoined to his state of reflection. 

The extent to which Swedenborg was governed, as 
to his freedom and rationality, by the Lord's influx 
into his internal thought, and the manner in which this 
influx was perceived by him, he describes in the 
following passage : — 

(80.) "As those who are led by the Lord perceive what they ought 
to do, and indeed in a manner not intelligible by others ; so also they 



SWEDENBORG'S INSPIRATION. 107 

are persuaded of what they ought to know, likewise in a spiritual 
manner, not intelligible to others. When, therefore, things probable 
in the highest degree occur, so that there is scarcely anything that con- 
tradicts, but, on the contrary, every thing affirms, even then they are 
not persuaded of these things before the spiritual persuasion, which is 
of faith, is also present" (S. D. 1405). 

So also Swedenborg, who was most anxious to be 
led by the Lord alone and not by himself, never wrote 
anything, on any point of doctrine, from the state of 
his own reflection, or from the state of his external 
thought, and hence from the findings of his own 
reason, even though those things should have been 
" probable in the highest degree," and even though 
" there was scarcely anything that contradicted, but 
everything on the contrary that affirmed those things." 
Before writing down anything that concerned the 
doctrines of the New Jerusalem, or the doctrines of 
the internal sense, he always waited first for the 
Lord's voice that came to him by an influx into his 
interior thought. 

Yet not only Swedenborg's internal, but also his 
external thought, or that thought upon which he 
exercised his own reflection, or his faculties of free- 
dom and rationality, was governed by the Lord, and 
it was governed by the Lord by His mediate influx 
through the Grand Man of heaven in general, and the 
angels and spirits composing the Grand Man in 
particular ; so that even the action of Swedenborg's 
freedom and rationality was completely controlled 
by the Lord. On the subject of the Lord's general 
influx through the Grand Man of heaven into Sweden- 
borg, he said in 1748 : — 



108 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

(Si.) " For three years I perceive now in a sensible manner that I 
have been kept in the sphere of faith, yet so that it seems to me as if I 
think and act from myself" {S. D. 2739). 

The action of this sphere of faith upon him Sweden- 
borg describes as follows : — 

(82.) "The universal heaven and earth, both in general and in 
particular, are governed by a sphere proceeding from the Lord. . . 
Whenever I speak in this sphere, or when I think in it, as I do now 
while I am writing, each and everything is in conformity with the action 
of this sphere, and nothing can be said, thought, or written, not even 
the least iota, but what is in conformity with this sphere" {S. D. 1844, 
1845). 

(83.) "From frequent and daily experience it has been granted to 
me now for three years to know that both men and spirits are compelled 
to think and speak as the Lord permits or grants, for whether I was 
willing or not, I had to think and speak [in a certain manner]. Spirits 
also are compelled to speak contrary to what they think ; nor is it 
possible for them to resist, for they are brought into the society of 
others, and thus are carried away, as it were, by a stream of thought 
or speech" (S. D. 2099). 

The nature of the stream by which Swedenborg's 
thoughts were led is described in No. 5 i, thus : " That 
which flowed in from the Lord led every series of my 
thoughts in succession, and although gently, yet so 
powerfully that I could by no means stray away into 
other thoughts. I tried to do so, but in vain." 

We see, therefore, that there was a general influx 
brought to bear by the Lord upon Swedenborg, by 
which the operation of his exterior thought, or the 
operation of his freedom and rationality, was controlled 
in such a manner that he thought and spoke, and 
consequently wrote, as the Lord desired him to think, 
speak, and write. This was done by the Lord's 



SWEDENBORG'S INSPIRATION. 109 

mediate influx into Swedenborg's understanding 
through the Grand Man of heaven in general. Let 
us now define more minutely the nature of this general 
influx into Swedenborg. 

First, By this influx there was imparted to him the 
light of reason by which he was enabled to reflect 
upon the objects that entered into his thought from 
without. This operation of the general influx of the 
Lord by heaven is clearly taught in what follows : — 

(84.) "The general influx of truth is the illumination which gives 
the faculty of apperceiving and of understanding the truth. This 
illumination is from the light of heaven which is from the Lord, which 
light is nothing else but Divine Truth " {A. C. 5668). 

Secondly, By this general influx Swedenborg was 
kept in an affirmative state of mind ; and as long as 
he was in this affirmative state of mind it was his 
delight to think and act, to speak and write, as the 
Lord desired him to do ; and hence to think and 
speak in the same manner as the angels of heaven. 
This effect of the Lord's mediate influx by heaven is 
taught in Nos. 81, 82, and 83. 

The effect of the Lord's mediate influx by heaven 
in general was, however, in Swedenborg's case, not 
limited to his understanding; for this influx was 
conjoined in him with the Lord's immediate influx 
into his will (see Nos. 44, 48) ; and one of the effects 
of the conjunction of these two influxes was, that 
Swedenborg was kept out of evil by the Lord, i.e. out 
of his proprinm. That he was in a state of good is 
ingenuously stated by him in No. 49 ; but that it was 
due to his being kept in the sphere of heaven, and 



no AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH 

thus within the sphere of the Divine Truth which 
proceeds mediately from the Lord, is taught by him 
in what follows : — 

(85.) "It was given me to know by experience that the Lord keeps 
me from the evil by which I am infested; so that if He should release 
this hold in the least, I should at once fall into evil, and into the 
danger of thinking and acting evil. It appears to me, therefore, as if I 
was kept aloof from the evil which is below, and consequently that I 
am in an interior sphere when evil is intended by the world of evil 
spirits. It was given me to know hence how good angelic spirits and 
angels are kept as it were above or within [i.e. in a degree more interior 
than] evil, so that it is not able to reach them. In this manner also evil 
spirits are prevented from flowing into man, while he is kept in the 
knowledges of faith; of this man himself is ignorant" {S. D. 3085). 

The Lord's government of Swedenborg, in respect 
to the externals of his mind, was however not limited 
to the direction of his external thought by the influx 
of the mediate Divine Truth through heaven in 
general, nor was the Lord's immediate influx into 
Swedenborg's affections, or into his will, confined to 
removing him from the evils and the proprium inhe- 
rent in his nature, but the Lord by this immediate 
influx into his affections directed him also in every- 
thing that pertained to the special mission or the 
special office to which he was called by the Lord, as 
is plainly taught in what follows : — 

(86.) "From my past life I was able to see that everything therein 
was governed by the Lord by means of those things that had been 
produced or done by me " {S. D. 3 l 77)- 

(87.) " What the acts of my life involved I could not distinguish at 
the time when they happened, but by the Divine mercy of God-Messiah 
I was informed with regard to some, and even with respect to many, 
particulars. From these I was at last able to see that the Divine 
Providence had governed the acts of my life uninterruptedly from my 



.9 WEDENBORGS INSPIRA TION. 1 1 1 

very youth, and directed them in such a manner that by means of the 
knowledges of natural things I was enabled to reach a state of intelli- 
gence, and thus by the Divine mercy of God-Messiah to serve as an 
instrument for opening those things which are hidden interiorly in the 
Word of God-Messiah. Those things, therefore, are now made manifest 
which hitherto were not manifest" {Adv. ii. 839). 

That in these things, i.e. in the course of study and 
investigation which Swedenborg was to pursue, he 
was not led by a conscious influx or dictate into his 
thought, but by an unconscious influx into his affec- 
tions, and that this unconscious influx from the Lord 
continued even after he had been called to his office, 
is declared by him in what follows : — 

(88.) "I know from my own case that in the parts of my office I am 
instructed by experience only, without the memory of particulars " 
(S. D. 888). 

By which Swedenborg means that in everything that 
concerns his office, i.e. " his teaching of the doctrines 
of the New Church by the Word from the Lord " 
(T. C. R. 779), he was not directed by his own thought 
on the things contained in his natural memory, which 
in the Spiritual Diary he calls " the memory of 
particulars," but was governed by the Lord by an 
influx into his will, of which he remained unconscious, 
until it manifested itself by " experience " or by the 
acts of his life. 

By this immediate influx into Swedenborg's affec- 
tions the Lord also governed the particulars of his 
thought ; yea, He governed even those things which 
entered into his thought from without, and hence He 
ruled also the particular influx which Swedenborg 
received from spirits in the world of spirits, and 



ii2 A UTHORIT Y IN THE NE W CHURCH. 

from angels in heaven. For Swedenborg was like 
all other men in receiving influx not only from 
heaven or the Grand Man in general, but also 
from the spirits and angels in particular, with 
whom he was associated as to his spirit. Sweden- 
borg, however, differed from all other men in this 
particular, that his internal thought, or the inter- 
nals of his understanding were, separated from his 
external thought, or from his body, and that by 
his internal thought, or by the Lord's influx into 
his internal thought, he was able to see and under- 
stand everything that entered into his external thought 
by the particular influx from angels and spirits. The 
nature of the particular influx which Swedenborg 
received from particular angels and spirits is described 
by him in the following words : — 

(89. ) " That man is ruled by the Lord by means of angels and spirits, 
was given to me to know by such manifest experience that not the 
least doubt remains on that subject. For all my thoughts and all my 
affections for many years [Swedenborg wrote this in 1753], as to all 
their least particulars, flowed in by means of spirits and angels. This 
was granted to me to perceive in such a clear manner that nothing can 
be clearer; for I perceived, saw, and heard who they were, what was 
their quality, and whence they were. Whenever anything objection- 
able entered into my thought or into my will, I spoke with them, and 
chided them ; I noticed also that their power of infusing such things 
was restrained by the angels, and the manner in which this was done; 
likewise that they were often driven away. And when they were 
driven away, others succeeded in their places, from whom again 
influx took place. It was then granted to me to notice whence these 
spirits were, and of what societies they were the subjects; I was also 
frequently allowed to talk to these societies themselves. And although 
everything of the thoughts and affections as to their least particulars 
flowed in by spirits and angels, I still thought exactly as before, I 
willed as before, conversed with men as before, so that no difference 



S WEDENBORGS INS P IRA TION. 1 1 3 

was observed by any one between my former and my present life. I 
know that scarcely any one will believe this, but still it is an eternal 
truth" {A. C. 6191). 

The nature of the particular influx into Swedenborg 
is further described by him in what follows : — 

(90.) " By a manifest experience which extends over several years, 
I know it as a most certain fact that the thoughts of a man who is in 
faith are not his ; that when they are evil they are of evil spirits, 
who suppose that they think from themselves, wherefore they are also 
imputed to them, as they are, to the men who believe thus ; while, 
when they are good, they are the Lord's only. This was granted to 
me to know as a most certain thing by daily experience and reflection. 

"When at last I became accustomed to this, that I did not think 
anything from myself, it was even delightful for me to think thus ; for 
I was thus enabled to speak of those things which were introduced into 
my thoughts, and that I myself was free from wicked thoughts ; it was 
even granted to me to know which spirits they were, and whence they 
came, who instilled those wicked thoughts, and I also frequently spoke 
with them about it. Even the least particular of thought I was per- 
mitted to know from whom it was, and whence it came ; so that these 
reflections became delightful to me. 

"But the spirits themselves who instilled these wicked thoughts 
imagined that thus I did not think anything, on which subject I 
frequently conversed with them ; wherefore also they did not desire to 
be like me : for they thought that thus they would lose every thing of 
their own, and would be nothing ; of which they are afraid, and to 
which they are averse, when yet it is altogether different " {S. D. 
1910-1912). 

We see, therefore, that although Swedenborg was 
governed by the Lord, not only by general, but also 
by particular, influx, he still continued to enjoy his 
freedom and rationality, and it seemed to him as if 
he thought and acted from himself, although he was 
perfectly well aware that all his thoughts came from 
spirits, and that every least particular of his thoughts 

H 



ii4 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

was ruled and directed by the Lord. The most 
explicit statement on this subject Swedenborg makes 
in the following passage : — 

(91.) "When it was first granted to me by the Lord to speak with 
spirits and angels, the following arcanum was at once declared to me : 
I was told from heaven that I was to suppose like others that I thought 
and willed from myself ; when yet there is nothing from myself : for 
when it is good it is from the Lord, and when evil from hell. That 
such is the case was represented to me to the life by various thoughts 
and affections which were induced upon me by others, and afterwards 
it was granted to me to perceive and feel that such was the case. 
Whenever, afterwards, anything evil arose in my will, or anything 
false in my thoughts, I inquired whence it was, and it was also dis- 
covered to me. I was even allowed to converse with them [i.e. with 
the spirits], to call them to account, and to compel them to retreat from 
me, and to remove their evil and falsity, and keep it with themselves, 
and no longer to inject them into my thoughts. This happened 
thousands of times, and in this state I have now remained for many 
years, and I still continue in it ; and, nevertheless, it appears to me as 
if I thought and willed like everybody else, with no difference what- 
ever. Novitiate spirits wonder at the state in which I am ; for it 
seems to them as if I did not think and will anything from myself, and, 
consequently, as if I was something empty. But I revealed this 
arcanum to them, and also that, viz., that I think interiorly, and 
have a perception with regard to what flows into my exterior thought, 
whether it comes from heaven or from hell, and that I reject the latter 
and receive the former, and that, nevertheless, it seems to me, as well 
as to them, as if I thought and willed from myself" {D. P. 290). 

It is difficult for us to believe that Swedenborg 
enjoyed his freedom and rationality, notwithstanding 
his having been, not only as to his internal, but also 
as to his external thoughts, directed by the Lord ; 
this difficulty, however, vanishes when we have correct 
ideas of the nature of man's freedom and rationality 
before and after regeneration ; for Swedenborg, in 
composing his theological writings, was not in the 



SWEDENBORGS INSPIRA TION. 1 1 5 

ordinary state of freedom and rationality in which 
men are before they are regenerated, but he was in 
the states of freedom itself and rationality itself which 
are enjoyed by men after they are regenerated, and 
also by the angels of heaven. In these states man no 
longer desires to rule himself, but is anxious to be led 
by the Lord alone ; moreover, he no longer desires to 
investigate the truth from himself, but he hopes and 
aspires to be instructed and illustrated by the Lord in 
the truth. That there is such a difference between 
the ordinary state of freedom and rationality, and 
freedom itself and rationality itself, is plainly taught 
in what follows : — 

(92.) " To act from freedom according to reason, or from liberty and 
rationality, is the same thing as acting from the will and the under- 
standing. But it is quite a different thing to act from freedom according 
to reason, or from liberty and rationality, and to act from freedom 
itself and rationality itself; for a man who does evil from the love of 
evil, and confirms this with himself, acts indeed from freedom according 
to reason, but still his freedom is not freedom in itself, or freedom 
itself, but it is infernal freedom, which in itself is bondage or slavery ; 
and his reason is not reason in itself, but it is either spurious or false 
reason, or that which appears as reason by confirmations. . . . Only 
they who have suffered themselves to be regenerated by the Lord, act 
from freedom itself according to reason itself ; but the rest act from 
freedom according to their thought, which with them has the appear- 
ance of reason " {D. P. 97, 98). 

An answer is here furnished to those who, in be- 
lieving that Swedenborg in conveying the doctrines 
of the New Church to mankind was inspired by the 
Lord, experience a difficulty on this ground, that in 
writing the works containing these doctrines he was 
evidently not debarred from the use of his freedom 
and rationality; for inspiration from the Lord, i.e. 



n6 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

writing the Lord's truth from the Lord, seems incom- 
patible to them with a continuance of man's freedom 
and rationality. 

There is such an incompatibility between the pre- 
servation of man's freedom and rationality, and 

I external inspiration, as in the case of those who, like 
the prophets and evangelists, receive Divine inspiration 
in their external thought ; for when the Lord takes 
possession of a man's external thought, the man 
himself cannot continue in the use of his external 
thought by an application of his own freedom and 
rationality. But there is no such incompatibility 

f between the retention of man's freedom and ration- 
ality and internal inspiration, like that which was 

; enjoyed by Swedenborg; for while the Lord had 
possession of the plane of his internal thought, and 
hence dictated to him what to think and what to 
write, Swedenborg himself retained the use of his 
external thought, and hence he continued to enjoy 
his freedom and rationality. Swedenborg, therefore, 
as to his external thought, was in a state of " sensitive 
reflection," and to this " reflection " of his external 
thought, " perception " from the Lord by influx into 
his internal thought was adjoined. Again, there is an 
incompatibility between inspiration and the use of 
man's freedom and rationality, as these exist with 
him before regeneration ; for before regeneration, and 
in the beginning of regeneration, man desires to lead 
and rule himself by the use of his own freedom, 
according to his own strength, and he does not 

5 acknowledge an interior plane of conscience and 
perception, whence the Lord seeks to direct his 



SWEDENBORGS INSPIRA TION. 1 17 

thoughts and actions ; such a thought also distresses f 
and harasses him then. But there is no such incom- 
patibility between inspiration, and freedom itself and 
rationality itself, as these exist with the angels in 
heaven, and with men after regeneration ; for they 
love to be directed by the Lord in everything, and 
the thought of leading and ruling themselves from I 
their own proprium distresses them. 

Still, as it is difficult for us to realize such a state 
from our own thought, it will be necessary to confirm 
this truth by additional quotations from the writings 
of the Church : — 

(93«) "Souls and spirits cannot perceive in the least that man may 
perceive and be persuaded from the Lord in what he ought to think, to 
speak, and to act ; for they think that no other perceptions can exist 
than such as take their origin from man's own, or from his proprium, 
so that even those who were more sharpsighted and more talented in 
the life of the body, and also in the life afterwards, and who seem to 
themselves to be able to penetrate and to understand all and everything, 
are altogether unwilling to acknowledge the existence of such a percep- 
tion. Whenever this perception or this persuasion formed the topic of 
conversation, they could not conceive otherwise than that their own or 
their self {proprium seu suu?n) was absent, and that they no longer 
existed, but that it was another who thought, spoke, and acted, they 
being but a kind of organ in which there was no life, or like some sort 
of wooden machine ; for they cannot conceive of the existence of any 
other life than that which is their own, or which belongs to them, 
and, when this is taken away, it seems to them as if they are nothing 
living, or, as some one observed just now, as if they are something so 
stupid that it could never be either a soul or a spirit. 

" Although these souls and these spirits are clear in other things, and 
capable of perceiving [them as they are], yet in this [i.e. in the matter 
of perception from the Lord] they are so perverse that they are not 
merely in a state of doubt, but even of denial, and this, as was said 
above, for this reason, that when their own or their self is removed, 
they think that nothing is left but what they reject. Whereupon I told 
them that there is the same difference between the life of those who do 



1 1 8 A UTHORITY IN THE NE W CHURCH. 

not enjoy this perception and those who do, as there is between dark- 
ness which is so dark that nothing is visible and heaven, or as there is 
between darkness and light, and even as there is between what rises 
from the lowest portions in man and his bowels and what descends 
from the universal heaven. 

" For there are two ways to the human understanding, viz., a way 
by the senses, which is the lower way, and by which the human under- 
standing has its birth ; and there is a way by heaven from the Lord, 
which is the higher way. Whatever is born by the lower way is bodily 
and material, but what is born by the higher way is spiritual and 
L celestial. Unless this higher door be opened by the Lord, it can never 
\ be believed that such a communication exists as causes man to perceive 
j and to be persuaded. But there is, nevertheless, in many persons con- 
I science from this source ; but this conscience for the most part is con- 
fined to actions, and is formed of a knowledge of those things in which 
man places worship and duty, and hence it is not true conscience. In 
some good men and spirits, however, there is an obscure, and in the 
angels, on the other hand, a clear conscience, so that they know, per- 
ceive, and understand, that a thing is so, and that, without such a mani- 
fest conscience and persuasion of things, which manifests itself in a 
variety of ways, no life can exist. 

" They wondered exceedingly whenever I told them that I can do 
nothing from myself, when yet they frequently saw things done or 
originating from me. When I told them again that these things were 
not done by me but by means of me, so that it indeed appears to me 
as if I did them, when yet I do not the least thing from myself, but the 
Lord does it, then they wondered still more. This struck them as 
paradoxical, and yet it is a truth which cannot be contradicted, and 
which is not contradicted by any angel, but confirmed. When they 
heard the confirmations from heaven they seemed to themselves to 
believe that it is so, but still they did not believe, because they did not 
perceive nor understand. 

" Such perceptions and persuasions can never be obtained without 
faith in the Lord ; for they are the Lord's, and consequently His gift ; 
and nothing of them belongs either to a man, a soul, a spirit, or an 
angel" (S. D. 897-902). 

Here the difficulty of believing in internal inspira- 
tion and perception, or in a state of freedom itself 
and rationality itself, when everything that a man 



6- WEDENBORGS INS P IRA TION. 1 1 9 

speaks and acts is from the Lord, and not from him- 
self, is most graphically shown by the examples of 
some souls or spirits in the other life ; but this same 
difficulty exists with all those men in this world who 
do not see the difference between freedom and ration- 
ality before, and after, regeneration. On this account 
we feel constrained to add to the testimony already 
advanced on this subject the following positive state- 
ments : — 

(94.) "Some spirits said that I was nothing, because I was moved 
by others to think, to speak, and to do everything else, and thus that 
there was nothing from me, which was perceived manifestly by many ; 
for during four years I have now been such that I neither thought nor 
spoke from myself {ex me), and yet it seems to me sometimes as if it is 
I who think and speak, but upon inquiry being made those are quickly 
found who communicated these things. 

"This morning I spoke with such spirits, and after they had mani- 
fested their surprise I was permitted to tell them that it was well that 
it was so ; because now when evil is thought and spoken it is not mine, 
but from the evil spirits, wherefore it is not appropriated to me. But if 
I should think that evil was from me it would be appropriated to me, 
and I should thus add actual evil to that in which I had been before. 
Good, on the other hand, is then from the Lord ; for if I do not attri- 
bute merit to myself from thinking, speaking, and doing what is good, 
then also I do not commit sin (S. D. 4228). 

From the whole of this it appears that Swedenborg, 
after he had entered upon his mission, was directed 
by the Lord not only as to his internal, but also as to 
his external thought ; that, therefore, all his thoughts 
and actions, and hence everything that he wrote, was 
directed and controlled by the Lord ; although, on 
the other hand, he enjoyed his freedom and ration- 
ality like every other human being, yet not that free- 
dom and rationality which is enjoyed by man before 



120 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

regeneration, but that other higher freedom and ration- 
ality which is enjoyed by the angels of heaven, with 
whom everything of their own, and hence everything 
of their proprium, is separated from their thoughts 
and affections, and thus from their speech and actions. 
It is difficult and almost impossible for us to compre- 
hend such a state, yet all those who suffer themselves 
to be enlightened by spiritual light are able to see 
rationally the possibility of such a state, and they are 
therefore prepared to receive affirmatively what our 
doctrines teach respecting this state. But all those 
who are able to conceive of a state in which man is 
separated from his own or from his proprium, and in 
which he thinks and acts from the Lord, and no longer 
from himself, are also able to understand that Sweden- 
borg, in everything that he wrote concerning the 
doctrines of the New Jerusalem, could be inspired by 
the Lord, so that everything that he wrote came from 
the Lord, and not from himself, and that, nevertheless, 
he could continue at the same time in the enjoyment 
of his freedom and rationality, and thus perceive and 
understand rationally everything that he wrote from 
the Lord. 

We have seen thus far that Swedenborg enjoyed a 
double thought, an internal and an external, both of 
which were governed and controlled by the Lord ; 
but we have seen also that, as to his external thought, 
he continued to enjoy the use of his freedom and 
rationality. We have seen, further, that the state of 
Swedenborg's external thought was one of reflection ; 
for Swedenborg was allowed by the Lord to reflect on 
everything that entered into his mind both by his 



S WEDENBORGS INS P IRA TION. 1 2 1 

bodily and his spiritual senses. To this reflection^ 
perception from the Lord was adjoined by an influx 
from the Lord into Swedenborg's internal thought ; 
and this influx enabled him to perceive what in his 
external thought came from himself, from spirits, and 
from angels, and what from the Lord ; what came 
from the Lord " he wrote down," but what came from 
himself, from the spirits and angels, " he did not write 
down " (see our No. 50). 

We are now enabled to see clearly that the recep- 
tion of the doctrines of the internal sense from the 
Lord into Swedenborg's mind implied two distinct 
processes, which are pointed out in the following 
passage : — 

(95.) "No one can see what is involved in the Apocalypse in its 
spiritual sense, except he to whom it is revealed out of heaven, and to 
whom it is, at the same time, given to know the internal or spiritual 
sense" (Z. J. 41). 

A distinction is made here between the revelation 
of the internal sense and the acquisition of its know- 
ledge. The knowledge of the internal sense was 
acquired by Swedenborg by the use of his external 
thought ; but the revelation of the same he received 
from the Lord immediately in his internal thought. 
In the acquisition of the knowledge of the spiritual 
sense, Swedenborg acted as of himself, with the full 
use of his freedom and rationality ; but the revelation 
of the spiritual sense to his internal thought he re- 
ceived from the Lord immediately without the medium 
of his freedom and rationality. Indeed, by this 
revelation of the internal sense, Swedenborg's reason 



122 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

was raised into preternatural light, and his will was 
filled with an irresistible desire of doing the Lord's 
will only, and not his own. 

The acquisition of the knowledge of the internal 
sense in Swedenborg's case consisted in a great 
measure in the acquisition of the knowledge of cor- 
respondences ; for this is the means by which the 
spiritual sense is given (see T. C. R. 207). This 
knowledge Swedenborg acquired partly in the natural, 
and partly in the spiritual, world. In the natural 
world he acquired it by a careful study of the letter 
of the Word, and in the spiritual world by his con- 
versations with the angels who are in that knowledge. 
On this subject he says in one of his letters to Dr. 
Beyer : — 

(96.) " When heaven was opened to me it was necessary for me first 
to learn the Hebrew language, as well as the correspondences of which 
the whole Bible is composed, which led me to read the Word of God 
over many times ; and as the Word of God is the source whence all 
theology must be derived, I was thereby enabled to receive instruction 
from the Lord who is the Word." 



But that the knowledge of the internal sense was 
acquired by Swedenborg also in the spiritual world 
is clearly shown in what follows : — 

(97.) " As the internal or spiritual sense is contained in every word 
of the Apocalypse, and as that sense contains the arcana of the state of 
the Church in the heavens and on the earths ; and as these cannot be 
revealed to any one unless he know that sense, and unless it be granted 
him at the same time to have consort with the angels, and to speak 
spiritually with them, therefore, lest the things which are written there 
should remain concealed before men, and be abandoned by them in the 






SWEDENBORGS INSPIRATION. 123 

future, on account of their not being understood, the things contained 
therein have been revealed to me " (Z. J. 42). 

In acquiring the knowledge of the spiritual sense 
both in the natural and spiritual worlds, Swedenborg 
was led in a most wonderful manner by the Lord ; 
and all this knowledge, as soon as it entered into his 
mind, put off at once everything that was derived 
from his own or from spirits and angels, and put 
on the nature of truth from the Lord ; for when- 
ever any knowledge pertaining to the internal sense 
entered into Swedenborg's external thought, and 
while he was intent upon following its hidden mean- 
ing, light burst in from his internal thought, and a 
revelation of the internal sense was made to him from 
the Lord according to this teaching : — 

(98.) "Divine Truth, i.e. the truth which proceeds immediately 
from the Lord, because it is purely Divine, flows into the truths of 
faith of whatsoever kind, and causes them to be true" {A. C. 8595). 
And again, "The knowledges of truth become truths with the re-^ 
generate" (Z>. F. 33). 

When a knowledge or a doctrine, however, becomes 
a truth, then it puts off all human qualities and shines 
in the light of heaven, and thus of the Divine Truth. 
This process is described in what follows : — 

(99.) " With doctrine it is so ; it becomes none in proportion to the 
presence in it of what is human, i.e. of what is sensual, scientific, and 
rational, from which it is believed to be so. But in proportion to the 
removal of what is sensual, scientific, and rational, i.e. in proportion as 
doctrine is believed without these, in the same proportion doctrine 
lives ; for in the same proportion what is Divine flows in. The things 
which belong to what is human impede influx and reception " {A. C. 
2538). 



124 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

The most external vessels for the reception of the 
doctrines of the internal sense in Swedenborg's mind 
were the natural truths which he acquired before the 
opening of his spiritual sight. On this subject he 
wrote to Prelate CEtinger in 1766 : — 

(100.) " I was first introduced by the Lord into the natural sciences, 
and thus prepared. This happened from the year 1710 to 1744, when 
heaven was opened to me ; for every one is led by natural to spiritual 
things. Man, namely, is born natural ; he is educated so as to become 
moral ; and finally is generated by the Lord so as to become spiritual. 
Besides, the Lord granted me to love truths in a spiritual manner, i.e. 
not on account of honour or gain, but on account of the truths them- 
selves ; for he who loves truths for the sake of truths, sees them from 
the Lord, because the Lord is the Way and the Truth (John xiv. 6) ; 
but he who loves them on account of honour and gain, sees them 
from himself; and seeing from one's self is identical with seeing 
falsities." 

By the opening of Swedenborg's spiritual sight his 
mind received the capacity of becoming stocked with 
spiritual knowledges or spiritual truths, and thus with 
genuine vessels for the reception of the doctrines of 
the internal sense. These knowledges Swedenborg 
acquired by his intercourse with spirits and angels, 
and as the Lord Himself had " introduced him into 
the natural sciences before 1744," so after 1744, when 
Swedenborg "was introduced into heaven," the Lord 
Himself also introduced him into a knowledge of 
spiritual things, or into a knowledge of those things 
which exist in the spiritual world. 

The Lord Himself, therefore, directed and super- 
intended in a most wonderful manner Swedenborg's 
intercourse with spirits and angels in the other world, 
permitting him to see and associate with only such 



SWEDENBORG'S INSPIRATION. 125 

spirits and angels as could furnish him with the 
particular kind of knowledge of spiritual things which 
he needed at the time. As his course of instruction 
in the other world was therefore most carefully 
watched over and determined by the Lord Himself, 
we need not wonder that in time Swedenborg's 
knowledge of " things seen and heard in heaven and 
hell " became so comprehensive and universal, and at 
the same time so minute and particular, that the Lord 
coulcl even reveal to mankind through Swedenborg, 
in a rational manner, " the mysteries of heaven, and, 
at the same time, of man's life after death " (see 
H. H. 1). 

The Lord's object, however, in superintending and 
directing the accumulation of spiritual knowledges in 
Swedenborg's mind, was not only to prepare and fit 
him for revealing to mankind "the mysteries of 
heaven, and, at the same time, of man's life after death," 
but also through his instrumentality "to open the 
Word as to its internal sense" (H. H. 1) ; for "the 
internal sense can never be known unless the nature 
of the things in the other world be made known, 
because so very many things contained in the internal 
sense have respect thereto, and describe and involve 
them " (see No. 65). The Lord, therefore, in super- 
intending most carefully Swedenborg's intercourse 
with spirits and angels, had also respect to the " open- 
ing of the internal sense " through him. 

It was, therefore, on both these accounts that at 
first a knowledge of the generals of the spiritual 
world was implanted by the Lord in Swedenborg's 
mind, and afterwards successively a knowledge of its 



126 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

particulars; so that in time a most faithful reflex 
of the general features of the spiritual world was 
established in Swedenborg's rational mind, with a 
sufficient stock of particulars to impart life and light 
to these generals ; and owing to this most wonderful 
superintendence by the Lord of Swedenborg's inter- 
course with spirits and angels in the other world, 
he was able to declare (see No. 77) that " what he 
learned from representations, visions, and from con- 
versations with spirits and angels was from tJie Lord 
alone." 

That the opening of Swedenborg's spiritual sight 
was one of the means by which the Lord enabled him 
to acquire a knowledge of the internal sense, appears 
from the experiences and memorable relations with 
which his first work on the internal sense of the 
Word, his Adversaria, is interspersed. 

We find there, for instance, that when he came to 
the history of Jacob, he was introduced in the other 
world to the veritable Jacob of the Old Testament 
(ii. 15 11); when treating of Moses, he saw Moses, 
and had conversations with him (ii. 1779, iii. 7612) ; 
when of David, he spoke with David, and learned 
from him the state in which he w r as when writing his 
Psalms (S. D. 3674) ; and when he treated of the 
internal sense of Solomon's history, the Lord was 
pleased to make him acquainted with Solomon in 
the other life (Adv. ii. 1434; iii. 5225). In a similar 
manner the Lord introduced him afterwards to Paul, 
and the disciples generally, so that he was able to 
describe their state in the other life. As the Lord 
immediately superintended Swedenborg's intercourse 



6- WEDENBORGS INSPIRA TION. 1 27 

with spirits and angels in the other world, and as He 
had gifted Swedenborg with a double thought, and 
as the Lord, by an immediate influx into Sweden- 
borg's internal thought, enabled him to distinguish in 
his external thought truth from falsity, therefore also 
Swedenborg was enabled to see the truth in connec- 
tion with all these Biblical personages, and whatever 
he has written concerning their state in the other life 
is, and must be, strictly true. Besides, as by the 
Lord's influx into the knowledges that entered into 
Swedenborg's mind from without, everything " sen- 
sual, scientific, and rational," and hence everything 
" human," was separated thence (see No. 99), and as 
these knowledges thereby became truths (see No. 98), 
so also everything merely human, and thus every 
fallacy of the senses, was separated in Swedenborg's 
mind from the things he learned respecting the Biblical 
personages mentioned above ; wherefore it is utterly 
impossible that he could have been imposed upon 
by spirits passing themselves off to him as the spirits 
of these personages. 

This process of providing vessels or knowledges for 
the reception of immediate revelation from the Lord 
was constantly going on in Swedenborg's mind. By 
the exercise of his external thought the Lord con- 
tinually introduced him into knowledges serviceable 
for the reception of the doctrines of the internal sense, 
and by the immediate influx from the Lord every- 
thing " sensual, scientific, and rational," and thus 
everything of Swedenborg's own, or of his proprium^ 
was separated from these knowledges, and they were 
converted into spiritual and natural truths. 



128 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

As soon as Svvedenborg's mind in this manner was 
fully stored with the requisite knowledge of the in- 
ternal sense, and thus was fully prepared to receive 
from the Lord the revelation of that sense, the Lord 
revealed the internal sense to him " while he was 
reading the Word" {T. C. R. 779) ; yet the revelation 
of that sense from the Lord was altogether according 
to the nature of the vessels in Swedenborg's mind, and 
thus according to his knowledge of the internal sense. 
For the understanding or the revelation of the internal 
sense is always in accordance with the knowledges of 
the internal sense that are in the mind. If these 
knowledges be scanty and limited, the revelation 
from the Lord can be but scanty and limited ; but if 
these knowledges be plentiful, then the revelations 
of the internal sense also will be rich and plentiful. 
Besides, if the receptive vessels of the mind are de- 
rived entirely from the sciences of the natural world, 
the revelation from the Lord will be limited to those 
doctrines of the internal sense which appear in the 
letter of the Word, and hence which appear in the 
light of the world. But if the Lord's presence in the 
Word, and hence the Divinity of the Word be denied, 
then no revelation whatever of the internal sense can 
be communicated by the Lord to man, and he is then 
unable to receive and understand any of the doctrines 
of the internal sense. 

On this ground we are able to see why the revela- 
tion of the internal sense was so very gradual with 
Swedenborg himself. When he first entered upon the 
study of the Word in 1745, he was not able to pene- 
trate beyond an understanding of its literal meaning, 



SWEDENBORG'S INSPIRATION. 129 

wherefore in the beginning of the Adversaria, pp. 1 
to 25, we find him labouring to explain, by means 
of the first chapter in Genesis, the physical creation 
of the universe. He was not able to penetrate then 
more deeply, and to receive a higher revelation from 
the Lord, simply because there were as yet no know- 
ledges respecting the internal sense in his mind ; and 
yet he had even then his spiritual sight opened by the 
Lord, and was enjoying an intercourse with spirits 
and angels in the other world. 

In proportion, however, as his knowledge respecting 
the internal sense increased, he was able to receive 
from the Lord first the revelation of the internal- 
natural, afterwards that of the spiritual, and finally 
that of the celestial, sense of the Word. 

Yet the mere storing of Swedenborg's mind with 
the knowledges of the internal sense was not the only 
intellectual operation by which he was enabled to see 
the internal sense within the letter of the Word, and 
thus to evolve the internal out of the literal sense for 
the benefit of men in this world. For this purpose 
it was also necessary that the ideas of his internal 
thought should be brought down into his external 
thought, which is on the same plane as the letter 
or the literal sense of the Word of God. This bring- 
ing down of the ideas of Swedenborg's internal 
thought into his external thought required, how- 
ever, considerable exertion on his part ; in fact it 
required from him most intense reflection on the spiri- 
tual meaning contained in the letter of the Word, and 
while, with the full use of his freedom and rationality, 
he was in such a state of reflection, the light of the 

I 



130 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

internal sense was drawn down from his internal into 
his external thought. At first the letter of the Word, 
on account of the state of his knowledges, appeared to 
him only in the general light of the internal sense, 
and in this general light he was able to distinguish 
the internal-natural or the internal-historical sense of 
the Word; afterwards, when knowledges became 
more abundant, this light became more particular, 
and he was able to discern the spiritual sense of the 
Word ; and finally, as the knowledges, and by the 
knowledges the light of the least particulars of the 
internal sense, was added, he was able to perceive 
the celestial sense of the word. 

The internal process, therefore, which took place in 
Swedenborg's soul when he wrote the doctrines of the 
internal sense from the Lord, is as follows : — He was 
in external thought while reading the letter of the 
Word of God in the natural world. In that state, 
with the full use of his freedom and rationality, he 
reflected concerning the spiritual sense contained in 
the letter, and for this purpose collected from the vast 
stores of his memory every knowledge, or rather every 
truth, bearing on this subject ; and while his mind was 
thus on a stretch, and he was intent upon fathoming 
the hidden meaning of the letter of the Word, the 
revelation of the internal sense by influx from the 
internal into the external thought was added to this 
state of reflection, and then Swedenborg clearly saw 
the internal sense from the Lord, and not from him- 
self. And while he was writing down the result of 
his internal revelation, the immediate and the mediate 
influxes from the Lord were so intimately conjoined 






6- WEDENBORGS INS P IRA TION. 1 3 1 

in him, and he was so thoroughly " filled with the 
Spirit of the Lord" {T. C. R. 779), that it was im- 
possible for him to write otherwise than as the Spirit 
of God directed him. 

As Swedenborg at such times was entirely " filled 
by the Spirit of God," and as he was then entirely 
removed from his own, or from his propritim, he 
declared in the Arcana Ccelestia, No. 6597, that " the 
internal sense was dictated to him out of heaven " {quod 
ille e ccelo mihi dictatus fuerit) ; and in the preface to 
the Apocalypse Revealed he makes the following 
statement : — 

(101.) " Every one may see that the Apocalypse cannot be explained 
at all except by the Lord alone ; for each word in it contains arcana 
which would never be known without special illustration, and hence 
without special revelation ; wherefore it pleased the Lord to open the 
sight of my spirit, and to teach me. Do not therefore believe that I 
took anything therein from myself, or from an angel, but from the 
Lord alone. The Lord also said by an angel to John : "Do not seal 
the words of the prophecy of this book " (chap. xxii. 10), by which is 
meant that they are to be manifested." (See also No. 52.) 

Particulars of the state in which Swedenborg was 
while writing the doctrines of the internal sense are 
given in the following passage : — 

(102.) "The signification of the things here written was revealed to 
me in a wonderful manner. Without revelation it is impossible to 
understand such things. There was a dictation in the thought, but in 
a wonderful manner. The thought was thereby led to an understand- 
ing of these words, and the idea was kept fixed upon each single 
expression ; it seemed as if it was fastened to it by a heavenly force. 
Thus this revelation took place in a sensible manner. 

" The process is different when the thought is enlightened mani- 
festly by a certain light, and when the writing is directed so that not 



132 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

even the least word can be written differently. Sometimes this is done 
in a less sensible manner, but at other times so very sensibly that 
„ the finger is led by a higher power as to what to write, and it is 
impossible to write otherwise. This also happens not only with the 
perception of the thing added, but it repeatedly happened in a variety 
of ways without perception, so that I did not know the connection 
before, but only after, the writing. This last species of revelation, how- 
ever, occurred very rarely, and then only for the sake of information, 
• and because revelations are sometimes effected in this manner. These 
< papers, however, were destroyed, because the Lord Messiah was not 
■ willing that this [i.e. that the revelations by Swedenborg] should take 
J place in this manner" {Adv. iii. 7167). 

The great difference therefore between Sweden- 
borg's revelation and that of the prophets among the 
Jews is, that Swedenborg had a perception of the 
meaning of what he wrote and the prophets had 
not, and that Swedenborg was not allowed to write 
anything to which perception had not been added. 
Another distinction was, that the prophets wrote as 
the Lord dictated to them through spirits whom He 
filled with His Spirit ; while Swedenborg received his 
revelation immediately from the Lord Himself, who 
dictated to him what to write by influx into his 
internal thought Swedenborg therefore wrote by in- 
ternal dictation from the Lord Himself, and not by 
external dictation through spirits, and whenever Swe- 
denborg wrote anything concerning the doctrines of 
the internal sense, the spirits by whom he was sur- 
rounded had to keep perfectly quiet ; this is stated by 
him in the following words : — 

(103.) " It was forbidden that anything should be dictated to me in 
a loud voice ; although conversations have been carried on with me in a 
loud voice almost continuously for quite a long time ; during the act of 
writing, however, silence prevails" {Adv. iii. 7167). 



SWEDENBORG S INSPIRATION. 133 

We see, therefore, that Swedenborg was internally 
inspired by the Lord Himself, while the prophets were 
externally inspired by means of spirits who were filled 
by the Spirit of the Lord. Besides, Swedenborg was 
thus internally inspired by the Lord, not only while 
reading the letter of the Word in the natural world, but 
also while he was in consort with spirits and angels in 
the other world; and as he enjoyed "sensitive reflec- 
tion " (see No. 79) while in the spiritual world, every- 
thing that he saw and heard in the spiritual world was 
impressed upon his memory, so that he remembered it 
fully when he was in his natural thought in the natural 
world ; and as he was internally inspired by the Lord 
when this impression was first made in his memory 
in the spiritual world, this state of internal inspiration 
returned when he wrote down his spiritual experience 
in the natural world ; on this account he made the 
following general statement to Gjorwell, the Royal 
Librarian in Stockholm, in 1765 :— 

(104. ) " When I think of what I am to write, and while I am writing, 
I am gifted with a perfect inspiration ; formerly this would have been 
my own, but now I know for certain that what I write is the living 
truth of God" {Anmarkningar i Svenska Historien, vol. i. p. 223). x 

The state of external inspiration in which the 
prophets were while writing the letter of the Word of 
God is described by Swedenborg most minutely in 
the following interesting passage, which also throws 
additional light on the state of his own inspiration : — 

(105.) "When an angel inspires or breathes words into a prophet, 



1 See Document 251, No. 7, in vol. ii. of Documents Concerning 
Swedenborg, edited by the Rev. R. L. Tafel. 



134 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

or into those by whom the words of inspiration are pronounced, he is 
only in spiritual things ; but when he acts upon the mind of him who is 
inspired, he excites there a thought which in the usual mode falls into 
human expressions. These expressions are such as are in the prophet ; 
thus they are in accordance with the comprehension and in accordance 
with the form peculiar to him. This is the reason why the style of the 
prophets is so various, and why it is with every one who is inspired 
according to the analytical form of his thought, as it was acquired 
beforehand. Nevertheless, I am able to declare in the most solemn 
manner, that with him who is inspired there is not the least thing in 
any expression, not even an iota, which is not inspired, although it is 
varied a little according to the gift and endowment of him who utters 
the inspiration ; yet so, that even then there is not an iota that is 
not inspired. 

" In this manner the hymns of praise were inspired which occur in 
the books of Moses, in Judges, and in the Psalms that were sung by 
David, by whom this has also been observed, likewise in the prophets. 
But where it says "Jehovah hath spoken it," the inspiration took place 
by a loud voice. This loud voice is like that of a man who is speaking 
at various distances ; far off and again near, so that the direction whence 
the sound comes may be known. This is so well known to me that 
nothing is better known ; it came even from a tower, from a hill, or 
from the direction above the head. . . . Although this voice is as clear 
and loud as that of a man who is speaking, since it can be heard even 
when others are speaking, still it does not enter the ear by the air from 
without, but is conveyed to the ear from within, wherefore it is not 
heard by the persons who are present. Nevertheless some spirits 
thought the words were heard also by the persons present with me, 
because while I was speaking with these persons my words were heard 
by them almost in the same manner in which I heard theirs. My 
language with them was of a like nature, for that also was sonorous in 
their ears" {Adv. iii. 6965, 6966). 

From this passage it appears that when the literal 
sense of the Word was inspired or breathed into the 
prophets it was " varied a little " by their intellectual 
character, from which we are bound to conclude that 
the doctrines of the internal sense upon being received 
in Swedenborg's mind were also " varied a little " by 



SWEDENBORGS INS P IRA TION. 1 35 

his intellectual character. But as in the case of the 
letter of the Word this "variation" did not interfere 
in the least with the force and power of the Divine 
inspiration, and as we read that there is nevertheless 
" not even an iota in the letter of the Word that is 
not inspired," so also the fact of the doctrines of the 
internal sense being " varied a little " by the intellec- 
tual character of Swedenborg, does not render them a 
whit less inspired, nor does it militate in the least 
against that other fact, that in those writings which 
contain the doctrines of the internal sense of the Word 
of God, there is not a single expression that has not 
been written " by the Lord through Swedenborg," and 
that does not come to us with Divine authority. From 
this passage it also appears that the expression of 
truth is indeed " varied a little " by the intellectual 
character of the recipient, but it is not stated that it 
is influenced also " by the individualities of feeling," 
or by the affectional character of the recipient, as is 
maintained in the argument quoted on page 52. 

That the inspiration of Swedenborg reached not 
only from his internal into his external thought, but 
was continued even into the expressions of his natural 
language, is clearly proved by the following passage : — 

(106.) "To-day it was given me to know that . . . language follows 
from the thought according to the ideas of thought, and that language 
is a natural consequence which follows in order" (S. D. 2799). 

If, therefore, " language follows from the thought 
according to the ideas of thought," and if " language 
is a natural consequence which follows in order," such 
must have been the case also with Swedenborg ; and 



136 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

if the Lord by His mediate and immediate influxes 
governed and determined not only Swedenborg's 
internal, but also his external thought, and if Swe- 
denborg's language " followed according to the ideas 
of his thought," being " their natural consequence," 
the inspiration of the Lord must have been continued 
even into the very words that Swedenborg wrote, so 
that he could say in very truth, " Those books are to 
be enumerated which were written by the Lord through 
me (a Domino per me) from the beginning to the 
present day" (see No. 10) ; and that in respect to the 
work on Heaven and Hell he could declare : — 

(107.) "The bishop was told that this was not my work but the 
Lord's work, who desired to reveal the nature of heaven and hell, and 
of man's life after death, and to teach the things respecting the Last 
Judgment, and likewise that theological subjects do not transcend the 
human understanding" (S. D. vol. iii. part 2, p. 205). 

Sometimes it is objected that Swedenborg's 
writings cannot be inspired, because they are not 
written in the language of correspondence. This ob- 
jection seems plausible, but it can very easily be 
disproved. 

In the first place, the language of correspondences 
is not necessarily inspired; for there are books in 
existence which are written in correspondences, and 
yet are not Divinely inspired ; notably so, among the 
books of the Bible as received by Christians in 
general, the Book of Job and the Song of Solomon. 
On this subject Swedenborg says : — 

( 108. ) "The most ancient style of writing was representative, in which 
things were represented by persons, and where expressions were used, 
by which quite different things were understood. The profane writers 
in those times composed their histories thus ; and even the things of 



SWEDENBORGS INS P IRA TIOJV. 1 37 

civil and moral life were thus treated, so that nothing that was written r 
was altogether such as it appeared in the letter, and that something I 
quite different was understood by their words ; yea, they even presented 
all affections whatever in the forms of gods and goddesses that were 5 
afterwards divinely worshipped by the heathens. Every learned man 
may know this, because such ancient books are still in existence. This 
mode of writing was derived from the Most Ancient people before the 
Flood, who represented to themselves heavenly and Divine things by the 
visible things on the earth and in the world, and they thus filled their 
minds and souls with delights and felicities in beholding the objects of 
the universe, especially such as were beautiful by form and order. All 
books of the Church in those times were therefore written in this style. 
The Book of Job is of such a nature, and the Song of Solomon was 3 
written in imitation of them ; besides many others that have perished " ( 

(a. a 1756). 

Besides, it is very plain that the language of corre- 
spondences is not different from that ordinarily used 
by man ; for the letter of the Word is written in the 
common language of man. The difference, therefore, 
is not in the language, but in the form of the thoughts 
which are expressed by the language. 

We are taught that whatever descends from the 
higher heavens into the ultimate or last heaven, in that 
heaven assumes a representative character (see A. C. 
10,276). When, therefore, the Lord's Divine Truth 
passes through the higher heavens into the ultimate 
heaven, and is received there by a spirit who acts as a 
medium for conveying the Divine Truth from that 
heaven to man, the Divine Truth in the mind of that 
spirit assumes the form of representative language, and 
in that form is communicated by the spirit to the man 
with whom he is associated ; but by the man this 
representative language is received in his own verna- 
cular tongue. 

From the fact, however, that the language of angels 



138 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

upon descending from a higher into a lower heaven 
becomes representative, and that it is expressed there 
in the language of correspondences, it does not follow 
that the angels or spirits in conversing with one 
another use such a language. Swedenborg indeed 
states [A. C. 1641) that representations are adjoined 
by the spirits to their language, but he does not 
state anywhere that their language itself is of such a 
nature. He describes the language of spirits and 
angels as a language of ideas, so exquisite and perfect 
that they do not need any representative images in 
conveying their ideas to others. The correspondences 
of the literal sense of the Word, upon being perceived 
in the minds of men by angels of the spiritual heaven, 
are therefore not turned in their minds again into 
correspondences, but the natural or literal sense with 
them is turned into the spiritual sense, i.e. they per- 
ceive the doctrines which are represented in the literal 
sense ; and the Word in the spiritual sense is nothing 
else but doctrine. This doctrine, and thus this spiritual 
sense, was seized by Swedenborg with his natural 
thought; and as much of this doctrine as could be 
accommodated to the comprehension of men, he 
brought down into the natural world, and expressed it 
there in the natural language of men. In the case of 
Swedenborg the language of the angels of the higher 
heavens did not descend into the ultimate heaven, and 
was not from it pronounced into his ear by a spirit of 
that heaven ; but, on the contrary, the human language 
was taken, as it were, by him into those higher heavens, 
i.e. it accompanied him when the Lord introduced him, 
though as to his spirit he was still conjoined to his 



SWEDENBORGS INSPIRA TION. 1 39 

body, to the angels of heaven, so that what he learned 
there from the angels he received in his external or 
natural thought, 1 and expressed in the natural lan- 
guage of men before it passed from these heavens 
into the ultimate heaven, and was turned there into 
representatives and correspondences. In the theolo- 
gical writings of Swedenborg we have therefore the 
substance of what the angels of the higher heavens 
perceive in the representatives and correspondences 
of the letter of the Word when it is read by men 
upon earth ; that is, we have the wisdom of the angels 
of heaven so far as it could be expressed by the Lord 
Himself, through the instrumentality of Swedenborg, 
in the natural language of men. 

We are aware that in declaring that Swedenborg's 
writings are inspired, although they are not written 
in correspondences, we lay ourselves open to a tech- 
nical objection on the ground that the term " inspira- 
tion" is employed in the writings of the New Church 
for that which " descends from the Lord, and indeed 
through the angelic heaven, and thus through the 
world of spirits, until it reaches man, to whom it is 
presented such as it is in the letter [of the Word] " 
(A. C. 1887). See also A. C. 4373, and 9094. 

Yet this definition by no means exhausts the sense 
in which the term " inspiration " is employed in the 
writings of the New Church ; so we read inA.C. 9229 : 
" The Lord alone is holy, and that which is holy pro- 

1 Angels and spirits conversed with Swedenborg in the other world 
in his vernacular tongue — thus in natural, and not in spiritual, language. 
See C. Z. 326, and T. C. R. 280; also S. D. 2137, 2309. Compare also 
H. H. 246. 



140 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

ceeds from the Lord. ... On this account, when the 
Lord after the resurrection conversed with His dis- 
ciples, He breathed on them (inspiravit), and said to 
them, ' Receive ye the Holy Spirit.' For this reason 
also the Word is said to be inspired, because from the 
Lord ; and they are said to have been inspired by 
whom the Word was written." In T. C. R. 140, the 
same passage of Scripture is explained thus: "The 
reason why the Lord breathed upon His disciples and 
said, ( Receive ye the Holy Spirit,' was because this 
breathing upon them (adspiratio) was an external 
representative sign of Divine inspiration. Inspiration, 
however, is an insertion into angelic societies" 

Here we obtain quite a different definition of inspi- 
ration, and in fact a definition of that particular kind 
of inspiration which Swedenborg enjoyed from the 
Lord. For both in the spiritual world and also in the 
natural world, when " he was thinking of what he was 
to write, and while he was writing" (see No. 104), the 
Lord endowed him with inspiration by inserting him 
into the society of angels. 

An instance in which he had inspiration conferred 
upon him by this means in the spiritual world, he 
records in a memorable relation (T. C. R. 135), where 
we read : " Then by the Lord's command three angels 
descended out of heaven, and were associated with 
me, in order that I might speak, from an interior per- 
ception, with those who were in the idea of three 
Gods ; . . . and then I spoke with them from inspi- 
ration which was conferred upon me." 

Another instance, showing that he was brought into 
a state of inspiration on earth, by having an angel 



SWEDENBORG S INSPIRATION. 141 

associated to him by the Lord, he relates in Adver- 
saria, iii. No. 5394, thus: "What was written above 
was inspired from an angel ; I could perceive this from 
the light, and other indications. The words flowed 
out spontaneously on the paper, but without dicta- 
tion." 

Other instances, showing that Swedenborg came 
into a state of inspiration by the Lord's placing him 
in the society of angels, are the following : — 

(109.) "While writing to-day I experienced an angel directing what 
I wrote, and indeed, in such a manner that I thought thence that there 
is not the smallest particular but what takes place under the auspices 
and the direction of God Messiah " (..9. D. 446). 

But that the inspiration by which Swedenborg was 
directed while writing his theological works was similar 
in kind to that which resulted in the written Word 
of God on earth, is clearly proved by the following 
passage, where it is shown that spirits, by noticing 
the state of inspiration in which Swedenborg was 
while writing his works, were enabled to conclude 
thence as to the nature of the inspiration of God's 
Word ; we read : — 

(no.) " Some that were raised into heaven saw particularly that the 
things that are written in God's Word are inspired ; for there appeared 
to them the manner and also the great abundance of what flowed into 
the things that were written by me; yea, not only what flowed into the 
meaning, but even into the particular words, and into the ideas of the 
words. It seemed to them also as if some were holding my hand, as it 
were, and were writing, and they thought that it was they who wrote. 
This also it was granted to me formerly to perceive by a spiritual idea — 
yea even to feel, as it were — viz. , that [there is such an influx] into every 
smallest thing of each little letter that I wrote. Hence it appears in 
clear light that the Lord's Word is inspired as to each letter " (S. D. 
2270). 



H2 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

On the other hand, it is thought by some that 
Swedenborg's theological writings cannot be inspired, 
because in his manuscripts there are whole sentences 
and paragraphs crossed out. This objection is made 
by those who confound internal with external inspira- 
tion. But as soon as it is acknowledged that Sweden- 
borg was internally and not externally inspired, that, 
therefore, he was inspired as to his internal and not as 
to his external thought, and that while being inspired 
as to his internal thought, as to his external thought he 
continued in the enjoyment of his freedom and ration- 
ality — the force of this objection is lost. The trifling 
character of this objection is, therefore, fully estab- 
lished as soon as it is known that Swedenborg while 
writing the internal sense from the Lord was in a 
state of the most intense reflection, and that, Pro- 
metheus-like, he had to convey the sacred fire of 
inspiration from heaven to earth. Wherefore it is 
quite possible that in writing the internal sense from 
the Lord in the natural world, he came into the full 
state of inspiration only gradually, in proportion as 
his state of reflection became intensified, and that he 
crossed out what he wrote in the beginning in order 
to express what he received from the Lord afterwards 
more clearly and more precisely. On the other hand, 
again, it is most probable that his external thought, 
and hence his hand, became overpowered sometimes 
by the flood of spiritual light streaming down into 
him, so that his thought outran his pen. On account 
of the peculiar nature of Swedenborg's inspiration, 
which was internal and not external, it was therefore 
quite necessary that he should prepare two copies of 



SWEDENBORG'S INSPIRATION. 143 

his works, the first being the rough draught, and the 
second the clean copy written out for the printer. 

Such double copies exist at the present day of the 
Apocalypse Explained ; the first draught copy of the 
Arcana also, from the 12th chapter of Genesis, was 
preserved by Swedenborg among his manuscripts, 
while the clean copy for the printer he sent by post 
from Stockholm to London. 

The reason of the many printer's errors in his pub- 
lished writings is stated by Swedenborg's friend, Carl 
Robsahm, thus : " There is one thing to be observed 
with regard to most of his spiritual writings, that 
the proof-sheets were corrected very badly, so that 
printer's errors occur very often. The cause of this, 
he said, was that the printer once for all had under- 
taken the proof-reading, as well as the printing" 
{Documents respecting Swedenborg, vol. i. p. 43). 

The presence of these errors in Swedenborg's 
published writings does not embarrass those of his 
readers who believe that he was internally inspired, 
and it is a stumbling-block only for those who do not 
distinguish between internal and external inspiration. 

These errors also are as easily removed from Swe- 
denborg's published writings, as similar errors have in 
course of time been removed from the printed text of 
our Bible. For the satisfaction of Swedenborg's 
readers we may however state, that from a close com- 
parison of many of the errata discovered by Dr. 
Immanuel Tafel in the printed copy of the Arcana 
Ccelestia y with the first draught copy of that work 
preserved in the library of the Academy of Sciences 
in Stockholm, we are able to declare that none of 



144 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH 

these errors exist in the copy written by Swedenborg's 
own hand ; whence it follows that these errors were 
introduced by the printers, and were not made by him. 

There remains only one objection to be answered 
which has been advanced against the Divinity of at 
least some of the teachings contained in the theolo- 
gical writings of Swedenborg. This is based on the 
gradation of the light or the illumination which has 
been noticed in his writings by some of his readers. 

It is maintained by some, for instance, that Swe- 
denborg evidently was not in such a high state of 
illustration while writing the first volume of the 
Arcana Cczlestia, as he was while writing the last 
volume ; because it is plain that his explanations in 
the first volume are much less full than in the last 
volume. It is also maintained that one of the memor- 
able relations appended to the chapters in the 
Apocalypse Revealed is reprinted with variations in 
The Trite Christian Religion, showing that when 
writing the latter work he enjoyed a higher state of 
illustration. Some go even so far as to call this 
latter work Swedenborg's " one great work," passing 
slightingly over the numerous other works which he 
wrote and published before The True Christian 
Religion. 

We have seen that the revelation of the internal 
sense to Swedenborg depended upon the state of his 
knowledge of that sense ; because " this sense cannot 
be revealed to any one unless he know that sense " 
(see No. 96) ; and because " all illustration," and 
hence all revelation, " while reading the Word, is 
according to the light in which any one is by the 



S WEDENBORGS INS P IRA TION. 1 45 

knowledges that are with him " (see No. 63). From 
the fact that each of Swedenborg's theological works 
differs from all the others, it follows also that a 
special kind of knowledges was required by Swe- 
denborg to enable him to receive in his mind from 
the Lord the revelation of the Arcana Ccelestia, and 
a different kind of knowledges in order to enable 
him to receive from the Lord the revelation of 
The True Christian Religion. Besides, from the 
fact that " the Lord through Swedenborg," in the 
years 1747 to 1756, wrote the Arcana Ccelestia, we 
are authorized to conclude, or rather we are bound 
to conclude, that he was fully prepared at that 
time to write from the Lord that work; and from 
the fact that he wrote The True Christian Reli- 
gion in 1770, we may again conclude that he was 
provided then with the requisite knowledge to enable 
him to receive from the Lord the teaching con- 
tained in that work ; but from the fact that Swe- 
denborg required a different preparation as to know- 
ledges in the case of The Trite Christian Religion 
than he required in the case of the Arcana Ccelestia, 
it does not follow that the teachings contained in 
the latter work are less Divine or less authoritative 
than those contained in the former. 

The same argument applies to the difference noted 
by some between the first and last volumes of the 
Arcana Ccelestia. When writing from the Lord the 
first volume of that work, Swedenborg's mind was 
sufficiently stocked with the knowledges pertaining to 
the internal sense to enable him to receive from the 
Lord the revelation of the internal sense contained in 

K 



146 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

that volume, although his mind may not have been 
sufficiently prepared to enable him to receive the 
teachings contained in the last volume of that work ; 
but there was no occasion whatever that Swedenborg 
should have been prepared in 1747 for writing the 
portion of it which he did not write until 1756. 

There is, however, not the least necessity to assume 
that Swedenborg in 1747 was not fully prepared 
to write the whole of the internal sense contained 
in the Arcana Ccelestia ; for, according to his own 
statement {T. C. R. 779), he was commissioned to 
" teach " the doctrines of the internal sense, and not 
simply to reveal them. In those works, therefore, 
which he wrote as the Lord's servant, he did not 
communicate the doctrines of the internal sense in the 
form in which he himself was able to comprehend 
them, but he accommodated them to the compre- 
hension of his readers. Hence that wonderful system 
of gradation and accommodation which is noticed 
throughout the whole of Swedenborg's writings. That 
in writing his theological works he had to accom- 
modate them to the state of men upon earth, is 
plainly stated by him in 5. D. 3473, where we read : 
" I had to write so as to be understood by men, and 
that they might perceive what I wrote; for if I should 
write according to the understanding and perception 
of spirits and angels, it would be so obscure to men 
that they would scarcely see anything, and would be 
in the midst of darkness." 

The same is corroborated by Swedenborg in a 
representation described in 5. D. 4133 to 4135, where 
he states that the reason why so many parallel pas- 



SWEDENBORGS INSPIRATION. 147 

sages are given in the Arcana Ccelestia is entirely 
due to the state of mankind ; and where he also 
declares that a hypothetical statement of the truth 
is preferred by men to a direct statement of the 
same. 

This accommodation of the doctrines of the internal 
sense to the state of reception of mankind, governed 
Svvedenborg in the preparation of all those works 
which he wrote for publication ; and of that descrip- 
tion are all those works where he evolves the internal 
sense of the Word, whether published by himself or 
not. To that class of works belong both the Adver- 
saria and the Apocalypse Explained. When writing 
the Adversaria, Swedenborg seems to have been 
actually under the impression that that was the 
great work which he was commissioned to write by 
the Lord, for throughout the whole of that work 
there are allusions to its publication ; and on the 
title-page of his manuscript copy of the Apocalypse 
Explained, he actually states that this work will be 
published in London in 1760; he also referred to its 
publication in The Last Judgment, No. 42. 

The only work which Swedenborg wrote entirely 
from his own point of view, and in which he did not 
accommodate himself to the state of his readers, 
was the Memorabilia, written from 1747 to 1765, 
and more generally known under the name given 
to it by Dr. Immanuel Tafel of the Spiritual 
Diary. 

The most diverse opinions prevail on the credi- 
bility and the authority of this work among New 
Churchmen ; some going so far as to place it above 



148 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

all other works written by him ; while others regard it 
as inferior in value, and even express their sorrow at 
its having been published, and strongly condemn the 
practice of those who appeal to it as an authority, or 
base any of their arguments upon its teachings. 

It is plain that the question as to the credibility or 
authority of the Spiritual Diary can be decided only 
on rational, and not on sentimental, grounds. The 
most rational argument however in this case is the 
opinion expressed by Swedenborg himself, because in 
this case we do not appeal to human reason, but to 
doctrine itself. He says in respect to the Spiritual 
Diary : — 

(ill.) "In general it is to be borne in mind that everything written 
in this book [i.e. in the Spiritual Diary] has not been written by me 
otherwise than from living experience, from conversation with spirits 
and angels, from thought like tacit speech communicated to me while 
writing, from things insinuated by those who were present during such 
experiences, and under whose direction I was while thinking and 
writing, even as to my hand ; so that all things contained in these three 
books, and likewise in other places, although they frequently do not 
cohere, are nevertheless experiences or facts derived in their own 
peculiar way from spirits and angels " (S. D. 2894). 

If to this statement there is added what Sweden- 
borg declares in No. JJ ', viz., " What I have learned 
from representations, visions, and from conversations 
with spirits and angels is from the Lord alone," it 
follows that all things that Swedenborg wrote in the 
Spiritual Diary are facts, and that they were written 
not from himself, but from the Lord. In another 
place he says respecting the contents of the Spiritual 
Diary : — 

(112.) "These are the things which I have new learned for several 



.9 WEDENBORGS INS P IRA TION. 1 49 

years by living experience, so that they are among the things with which 
I am acquainted by instruction better than with other things " (S. D. 
3788). And again he says, "These things have been written by influx 
from heaven, from the wisdom of the angels there." 

Surely if Swedenborg himself speaks so highly 
respecting the contents of the Spiritual Diary, we 
who believe his testimony can do no less than regard 
its teachings in a similar light; and if the ideas that 
we have formed to ourselves on spiritual things differ 
from those laid down in the Spiritual Diary, it be- 
hoves us to be humble and docile, and to accept the 
teaching of him who in writing this work ''was in- 
structed by no spirit, and by no angel, but by the Lord 
alone (see No. Jj). It is well for us also in such a 
case to be mindful of the warning given to Paul : " // 
is hard for thee to kick against the pricks" (Acts 
ix. 5). 

But should the objection be raised, " If the Spiri- 
tual Diary was written by Swedenborg from the 
Lord, and not from himself, why then did he not 
publish it ? " we answer, for the same reason that he 
did not publish his first treatise on Conjugial Love, 
which has not been found, but of which the index has 
been preserved, and also his Doctrine of Charity, his 
posthumous treatises concerning Divine Love and 
Wisdom, concerning The Sacred Scripture, concerning 
The Lord and the Athanasian Creed, concerning 
The Last fudgment and the Spiritual World, with 
several other little works published by Dr. Immanuel 
Tafel as Appendices to the Spiritual Diary. All 
these works, including the Coronis and the Canons, 
were either written from Swedenborg's own point of 



150 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

view, and were not accommodated to the state of the 
men living at his time, or else they contain spiritual 
knowledges, by which Swedenborg was prepared for 
those works which he published during his lifetime. 
As all these works, however, were of use in preparing 
Swedenborg's mind for receiving from the Lord the 
revelation of the doctrines of the internal sense, so also 
these works were carefully preserved in order to enable 
us to obtain higher and deeper views of the subjects dis- 
cussed in the works published by Swedenborg himself. 
A peculiar case is that of the Apocalypse Explained. 
This work comes to us accredited in exactly the same 
way as the Spiritual Diary ; for it is one of those 
works which were left by Swedenborg in MS. ; and yet 
its credibility and authority have never been questioned 
in the Church, even though it presents one feature 
which is calculated to raise greater doubt in a rational 
and critical mind than any point connected with the 
Spiritual Diary. We allude to the fact that the 
explanation of the internal sense of the Book of Reve- 
lation in the Apocalypse Explained, differs in many 
particulars from that given in the Apocalypse Revealed, 
which Swedenborg wrote and published four years 
later. The difference is not of such a nature that 
the Apocalypse Revealed contradicts the explanation 
given in the Apocalypse Explained; but while in 
the latter work the doctrine of the internal sense 
is applied to the Church universal, in the former 
work it is treated exclusively in its bearing on the 
New Jerusalem Church ; and it can scarcely be 
doubted that Swedenborg intends the members of 
the New Church to use for their doctrine the expla- 



S WEDENBORGS INS P IRA TION. 1 5 1 

nation given in the Apocalypse Revealed; for that is 
the explanation which was not only written, but also 
published by him. 

This, therefore, is an occasion where Swedenborg, 
by the elaboration of one work, was evidently pre- 
pared for writing another work, and where, in the 
second work, he has particularized the teachings of the 
first. The statements made in the Spiritual Diary, 
however, have not been qualified or particularized in 
any other work, nor have the textual explanations 
of other parts of Scripture, and the general doctrinal 
elucidations contained in the Apocalypse Explained, 
been stated differently in any succeeding work. The 
whole of the Apocalypse Explained has been written 
by Swedenborg in as high a degree of illumination or 
inspiration as he enjoyed while writing any other of 
his works ; but the receptive vessels, or the state of his 
knowledge, while writing the Apocalypse Explained, 
differed from the state of his knowledge when writing 
the Apocalypse Revealed. 

As Swedenborg progressed with the Apocalypse 
Explained, knowledges to the effect that the New 
Jerusalem Church in particular, and not the Church 
in general, is treated of in the internal sense of the 
Book of Revelation, began to accumulate in his mind, 
especially while he was writing the explanation of the 
twelfth chapter ; and this knowledge was established 
in his mind in all its clearness when, in the nineteenth 
chapter, he came to treat of the White Horse ; where- 
fore the work on the Apocalypse Explained was then 
abruptly brought to a close, and Swedenborg was pre- 
pared to write from the Lord the Apocalypse Revealed. 



152 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

The relative position of the Apocalypse Explained, 
and the Apocalypse Revealed, shows better than any- 
thing else that, even in the case of Swedenborg, 
the Lord could not pour new knowledges into his 
mind from within, and that the revelation which he 
was able to receive from the Lord was altogether 
according to the state of knowledges with him. The 
Lord, indeed, superintended the acquisition of know- 
ledges by Swedenborg, and by His mediate influx led 
him into all requisite knowledges ; yet this required 
both time and labour even in the case of one whose 
greatest delight consisted in not doing his own, but 
the Lord's, will upon earth. 

In concluding our chapter on the nature of Sweden- 
borg's inspiration, we cannot do so in more appro- 
priate language than that in which he himself sums 
up the wonderful state in which, by the Lord's 
Divine Mercy, he continued for nearly twenty-nine 
years : — 

(113.) "The manifestation of the Lord in person, and the intro- 
duction by the Lord into the spiritual world, as well as to sight, as to 
hearing and speech, is superior to all miracles ; for it is not stated any- 
where in history that such an intercourse with angels and spirits has been 
granted to any one since the creation of the world. For daily I am 
with the angels there, as with the men in the world, and now for 
twenty-seven years. The proofs of such intercourse are the books pub- 
lished by me on Heaven and Hell, and some memorable relations on 
this subject in my last work called The True Christian Religion; like- 
wise what is stated there about Luther, Melancthon, Calvin, and the 
inhabitants of most kingdoms ; besides the various testimonies known 
in the world, and other things that are both known and unknown. 
Say, who has ever before known anything about heaven and hell, about 
the state of man after death, about spirits and angels, and so forth ? In 
addition to these most manifest proofs is this, that the spiritual sense of 



S WEDENBORGS INS P IRA TION. 1 5 3 

the Word has been revealed by the Lord through me {a Domino per me). 
Who has known anything respecting this sense since the revelation of 
the Word by the Israelitish writings? And yet this sense is the very 
sanctuary of the Word ; the Lord Himself is in this sense with His 
Divine nature, while He is in the natural sense with His human nature. 
Not a single iota of this can be opened except by the Lord alone. 
This revelation is superior to all revelations that have heretofore been 
made since the creation of the world. By this revelation a communi- 
cation has been opened between men and the angels of heaven, and the 
conjunction of both worlds has been established ; for man is in the 
natural, and the angels are in the spiritual sense. On this subject read 
what has been written in the chapter on the Sacred Scripture [i.e. in 
the T. C. R.]" {Invitatio ad Novum Ecclesiam, Nos. 43, 44). 

Before closing the present subject it is requisite to 
guard against a misapprehension which has arisen in 
the minds of some on hearing us claim a Divine 
authority for the doctrines contained in Swedenborg's 
theological writings, and also on hearing our declara- 
tion that Swedenborg in composing these writings 
was in a state of inspiration, and not simply of 
illumination, from the Lord : for thus, they say, we 
unmistakably speak of "the Divine inspiration of 
Swedenborg," and hence make him equal to God. 

We speak of the Divine authority of the letter of 
the Sacred Scripture, and declare the Scripture to be 
inspired; we also declare that Moses in writing the 
Pentateuch, and the prophets in delivering their pro- 
phecies, were inspired by the Lord : and yet no one 
on that account, as far as we are aware, speaks of 
" the Divine inspiration of Moses, Isaiah, Matthew, or 
Luke," in a general way. They were, indeed, Divinely 
inspired at the time when they wrote the books 
bearing their names, but they were not inspired at 
any other time. 



154 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

So also, in declaring that Swedenborg while writing 
his theological writings was in a state of inspiration 
from the Lord, we indeed maintain that then and 
there he was governed by the Holy Spirit, so that 
what he wrote came from the Lord, and not from 
himself; and yet we are far from maintaining that he 
was always in such a state of inspiration, and thus 
that he laid entirely aside his human qualities, and 
put on the Divine attributes of the Holy Spirit. 
Hence also we speak of the Divine authority of the 
doctrines of the New Jerusalem, revealed to us 
through the instrumentality of Swedenborg, and we 
consider it our duty to investigate the nature of the 
inspiration which he enjoyed while writing these 
works ; but we never speak of " the Divine inspira- 
tion of Swedenborg" in the general way in which 
this has been erroneously attributed to us. 1 

Finally, in claiming for Swedenborg the predicate 
" inspiration " in this particular way, we base our- 
selves on Swedenborg's own statement to Gjorwell, 
the Royal Librarian of Sweden, to whom he said, 
" When I think of what I am to write, and while I am 
writing, I am gifted with a perfect inspiration; for- 
merly this would have been my own, but now I know 
for certain that what I write is the living truth of 
God" (see No. 104). 

1 See the New Jerusalem Messenger for August 2, 1876, p. 56. 



CHAPTER VII. 

SWEDENBORG CONSIDERED AS A TRANSLATOR OF 
SCRIPTURE. 

THERE are those who say, We are willing to 
acknowledge that Swedenborg was the Divinely 
appointed means for the revelation of the doctrines of 
the internal sense ; we are willing, therefore, to acknow- 
ledge him as a final authority in everything that con- 
cerns the spiritual sense of Scripture, but we are 
not willing to acknowledge him as a competent autho- 
rity in translating the letter of the Word of God. 

There are, in fact, some who, in translating from the 
Latin Swedenborg's theological works, deliberately 
ignore his translation of Scripture, and insert in its 
place the common English version. 

There are several reasons which prompt them to do 
so. The common version of Scripture is, in their 
eyes, the only bond remaining between New Church- 
men and those who profess the doctrines of the Old 
Church ; and in giving up the authorized version of 
Scripture they think they give up the common ground 
on which they can meet the members of the Old 
Church. As a policy of accommodation, therefore, 
they think we ought to ignore the authorized version 
of the New Church, and adopt the authorized version 
of the Old Church. 



156 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

Others, again, may be convinced of their own in- 
ability to translate correctly the Word of God from 
the original languages, and because they themselves 
are unable to do this, seem to think that no one else 
in the New Church is able to do so. Sceptical 
as to the scholarship of the New Church, they seem 
inclined to adopt without question the scholarship of 
the Old Church, and to oppose this even to the 
scholarship of him who " from his earliest youth was 
prepared by the Lord " for the mission of revealing 
to mankind the internal sense of the Sacred Scripture. 
As such an ignoring of the claims of the New 
Church translation of Scripture can arise only from 
an unacquaintance with those parts of the writings of 
our Church in which the importance of a genuine 
translation of Scripture is taught, it becomes our duty 
to place this whole subject in its proper light by a 
constant reference to the doctrines of our Church. 

In order, then, that we may be able to see clearly 
and definitely the importance of a genuine translation 
of the Sacred Scripture, we must first have a clear and 
definite idea of the uses of the Sacred Scripture ; and 
after knowing what the uses of the Sacred Scripture 
are, we can by comparison judge how these uses are 
performed by a translation which is genuine, and by 
one which is not genuine. 

A translation is genuine when it calls up in the 
mind the very same ideas which are called up by 
the reading of the original ; and a translation is not 
genuine when it substitutes different ideas from those 
which are furnished by the original. 

The uses of the Sacred Scripture are twofold : in 



SWEDENBORG AS A TRANSLATOR. 157 

the -first place, it is the source whence all the doctrines 
of the Christian Church are drawn, and by which 
these doctrines are afterwards confirmed ; according 
to this statement : — 

(114.) " Doctrine is to be drawn from the literal sense of the Word, 
and to be confirmed thereby, because the Lord there, and not any- 
where else, is present with man and illustrates and teaches him the 
truths of the Church ; for the Lord never operates anything except in a 
state of fulness ; and the Word is in its fulness in the sense of the letter, 
wherefore doctrine is to be derived thence" {S. S. 53). "Doctrine, 
however, is not only to be drawn from the letter of the Word, but also 
to be confirmed thereby : for unless the truth of doctrine is confirmed 
by the letter of the Word, it appears as if only the intelligence of man, 
and not the Lord's Divine Wisdom, is contained in it. Doctrine also 
in this case would be like a house in the air, and not upon the earth, 
and thus it would be without a basis " (S. S. 54). 

The second use of the Sacred Scripture is that, by 
means of its literal sense, the conjunction of man with 
the Lord is effected, and his consociation with angels. 
On this subject we read : — 

(115.) "I was informed from heaven that the Most Ancient people 
had immediate revelation, because their interiors were turned towards 
heaven, and that the Lord's conjunction with the human race was 
thence at that time. That after their times, however, there was not 
such immediate revelation, but a mediate one by correspondences : for 
their whole Divine worship consisted of such correspondences ; where- 
fore the Churches of that period were called representative Churches. 
They knew then what correspondence and representation is ; and also 
that all things on earth are correspondences of the spiritual things 
which are in the Church and in heaven, or what is the same thing, that 
they represent them ; wherefore the natural things which were the 
externals of their worship served them as means of thinking spiritually, 
and thus with the angels. After the knowledge of correspondences and 
representations had become obliterated, the Word was written, in which 
all the words, and the meaning of the words, are correspondences, and 
thus contain a spiritual or internal sense in which the angels are. When 



158 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

man therefore reads the Word, and perceives it according to the sense 
of the letter, or according to its external meaning, angels perceive it 
according to the internal sense, or according to its spiritual meaning. 
For all thought with the angels is spiritual, but the thought of men is 
natural ; their thoughts, indeed, appear diverse, but still they are 
one by correspondence. Hence it is, that after man had removed 
himself from heaven and broken the bond, the Lord provided a 
means of conjunction of heaven with man by means of the Word " 
{H. H. 306). 

We see, therefore, that the Word, on the one hand, 
furnishes to man precepts of life, and enables him to 
obey them, because the Lord Himself is present in it ; 
and, on the other hand, effects conjunction between 
the angels of heaven and the men of the Church on 
earth. 

The power of the Word, therefore, does not consist 
merely in its containing precepts of life, and in en- 
abling man to distinguish between what is good and 
evil ; but its power consists also in this, that by virtue 
of the correspondences which are contained in it the 
Lord Himself, together with the angels of heaven, is 
able to be present in it, and to assist man with His 
omnipotent power. 

This power of the Word resides in its fulness in the 
original text ; for there we have the original words 
upon which the Spirit of God alighted in the minds of 
the prophets, through whom the Word of God \vas 
communicated to man. 

Concerning the power of the Word of God in the 
original Hebrew tongue, we read as follows : — 

(116.) "A small piece of paper was let down, written over with 
Hebrew letters such as were used in the most ancient times. They 
differ somewhat from the Hebrew letters of the present day, but not 
much. An angel who was with me told me that he understood every- 



SWEDENBORG AS A TRANSLATOR. 159 

thing that was written there from the mere shape of the letters ; and 
that each letter contained some idea, even a whole chain of ideas ; he 
informed me also of the signification of the ^ (Jod), the X (Aleph), the 
H (Heth); but he was not permitted to give the meaning of the 
remaining letters. He also said that all things of the Word are thus 
inspired, and that the third heaven, when the Word is read by man in 
the Hebrew text, knew thence everything Divine-celestial which was 
inspired ; further, that all things there in general and in particular 
treat concerning the Lord. This sense cannot be expounded, because 
it is the very celestial sense, not even an idea of which can be expressed 
by human language. From this it may appear that the Word, accord- 
ing to the Lord's words, is inspired according to each jot, and also 
according to each tittle. I conversed with them on the circumstance 
that the form of the Hebrew letters only presented these things ; 
and the cause was traced to the form of the flux of heaven which 
is such ; and as the celestial angels are in the flux which constitutes 
the basis of order, they are able to have such a perception" (S. D. 
4671). 

Again we read : — 

(117.) " When the Jews read the Word in the original language, the 
celestial angels derive from their ideas, which are drawn from the very 
form of their language, the celestial things which are in the Word. 
For the correspondence of that language as to its syllables is with 
celestial forms." And then Swedenborg continues, "It appears 
hence that the Word is Divine not only as to every word, but also 
as to its syllables and letters ; and it may be known hence what is 
signified by this, that not even 'the least jot or the least tittle shall 
perish. From this also may be seen the reason why the Jews were 
induced to number every letter in the Word ; and why they believed 
that arcana were contained in each letter, although they did not know 
how" {S. D. 3619, 3621). 

It may be useful to mention here that what are 
called Hebrew letters at the present day are not the 
Hebrew letters proper, but the Chaldaic characters. 
In the Hebrew letters proper we are told there is not 
a single straight line, but they consist altogether of 



160 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH 

curves and spires. These ancient Hebrew characters 
have been preserved among the Jews, and because 
the shape of the Hebrew letters proper differs from 
that of the Hebrew printed letters, therefore in their 
synagogues the lessons from the Word are always, if 
possible, read from manuscript copies. Swedenborg 
refers to this fact in these words : — 

(118.) "The Jews have been preserved on account of the Hebrew 
language ; they have also the Word written in the ancient Hebrew 
language, where all letters are inflected, because the Word when written 
in that character has a more immediate communication with heaven " 
{S. £>., vol. vii., Appendix I. p. 83). 

Such is the nature of the conjunction with heaven, 
when the Word is read in the original Hebrew lan- 
guage, especially when this is written in the ancient 
Hebrew characters. We have seen also that when read 
in that language it effects conjunction with the angels 
of the inmost or third heaven. It is plain, however, 
that this principle of conjunction is completely lost 
when the Word is translated from the original Hebrew 
into any other language. 

Yet it does not follow from this that there is no 
conjunction with heaven effected by means of the 
translated copies of the Word ; for we have seen that 
in the Word not only the very words, but also " the 
meaning of the words," consist of correspondences, and 
effect conjunction. In the translated copies of the 
Word, therefore, the very words, and the apexes, jots, 
and tittles of the words, are no longer inspired, but 
only the meaning of the words; conjunction with heaven 
is then effected by " the meaning of the words" of Scrip- 
ture when read in a holy state; and this meaning, 



SWEDENBORG AS A TRANSLATOR. 161 

it seems, is perceived not by the celestial, but by the 
spiritual angels of heaven, and conjunction with them 
is thereby effected (see Nos. 116, 117). 

We see, therefore, how important it is that the 
meaning of the original words should be properly 
rendered in translation. 

The reason, however, why it is so very important 
that the meaning of every word in the original should 
be properly rendered, and that there should be nothing 
dropped, and nothing added, is on account of the 
internal sense, lest this be mutilated and violated. 
And that there is a danger of mutilating, and thus of 
injuring the internal sense by an improper translation, 
may be seen from the following passages from the 
Writings : — 

(119.) "The internal text is so continuous that not even the least 
word can be omitted without an interruption of the series " (A. C. 
7933)- 

Again Swedenborg says : — 

(120.) "I can assert that every least particular in the Word con- 
tains in itself a spiritual sense, and that all things of the Church as 
to its spiritual state are in that sense described in fulness from begin- 
ning to end ; and because each word there signifies something spiritual, 
therefore not a single word can be omitted without the series of things 
in the internal sense undergoing a change ; therefore at the end of the 
Book of Revelation it is said : ' And if any man shall take away from 
the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part 
out of the book of life, and out of the Holy City, and from the things 
which are written in this book.' The same is the case with the books 
of the Word of the Old Testament ; there also each thing, and each 
expression, contains an internal or spiritual sense ; wherefore, there 
also, no word can be removed. Hence it is that, by the Lord's 
Divine Providence, these books, from the time when they were first 
written, have been preserved entire down to the very jot, by the 
care of a number of men, who have numbered every least particular 

L 



162 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

therein. This was provided by the Lord on account of the sanctity 
which is interiorly in every jot, letter, word, and thing" (Z. J. 41). 

We read further : — 

(121.) " It is to be observed that in the spiritual sense all things 
cohere in a continuous series, and to its production every word in the 
literal or natural sense conspires; wherefore, if but the least word be 
removed, the connection would be broken, and the conjunction would 
perish. Lest, therefore, this should happen, it was added at the end 
of the prophetical Book of Revelation that not a word should be 
removed (xxii. 19). The same is the case with the prophetical 
books of the Old Testament ; lest anything should be removed thence, 
by the Lord's Divine Providence each particular therein, down to 
the very letters, was numbered ; this was done by the Masorites " 
(S. S. 13). 

Another reason why the letter of the Word ought 
to be kept inviolate is this, that each part of the letter 
of the Word corresponds to, and thus effects conjunc- 
tion with, a particular society of heaven ; if therefore 
any part of the letter of the Word be dropped or 
mutilated by a false translation, the Word cannot 
effect conjunction with the whole of heaven, and hence 
not the whole of heaven can be brought near to man. 
This is supported by the following passage : — 

(122.) " It has been granted me to know, by much experience, that 
a man has communication with heaven by means of the Word. In 
reading the Word, from the first chapter of Isaiah to the last of Malachi, 
with the Psalms of David, and keeping my thoughts fixed on the 
spiritual sense of each passage, it was granted me to perceive clearly 
that each verse communicates with some particular society in heaven, 
and thus that the whole Word communicates with the universal heaven, 
from whence it appeared, that as the Lord is the Word, so also heaven 
is the Word, since heaven is heaven from the Lord, and the Lord by 
the Word is the all of heaven " (T. C. R. 272). 

As conjunction with the whole of heaven can be 



SWEDENBORG AS A TRANSLATOR. 163 

effected only by the whole of the Word, therefore 
also we are taught that, principally on account of 
the reading of the Old Testament, the Jews have 
been preserved as a distinct people up to the present 
time. 

This we find stated in the writings of our Church 
in the following language : — 

(123.) "The Jewish nation has been preserved on account of the 
Word " (A. C. 4231). And again, " Because the tribe of Judah, more 
than other tribes, was of this character [that they could be in a holy 
external], and at this day, as formerly, keep holy those rites which can 
be observed out of Jerusalem, and also have a sacred veneration for 
their fathers, and an especial reverence for the Word of the Old Testa- 
ment ; and it was foreseen that the Christians would almost reject it, and 
would likewise defile its internals with things profane, therefore that 
nation has been hitherto preserved — according to the Lord's words in 
Matthew (xxiv. 32) : ' Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not 
pass away until all these things shall have happened'" {A. C. 3479). 
Further, " The reason why the Jewish nation has been preserved, and 
scattei-ed over a large portion of the globe, is on account of the Word 
in its original language, which they above Christians consider holy ; 
and in each particular of the Word is the Lord's Divine, for it is the 
Divine Truth conjoined with Divine Good which proceeds from the 
Lord, and by this there is a conjunction of the Lord with the Church 
and the presence of heaven ; and the presence of the Lord and of 
heaven is wherever the Word is read in a holy state. This is the 
end of the Divine Providence for which that nation has been pre- 
served and scattered over a large portion of the globe" {D. P. 260). 
"If the Christians," says Swedenborg again {A. C. 3479), "as they 
were acquainted with internal things, had also lived as internal men, it 
would have been otherwise. If this had been so, that nation, like other 
nations, before many ages would have been cut off. " 

After examining the various means employed by 
the Divine Providence to keep the power of the letter 
of the Word unimpaired and inviolate, we shall inquire 
more particularly into those measures by which the 



1 64 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH 

power of the Word to consociate heaven with man 
may be impaired by men. 

The power of the Word of God in the first place is 
impaired when it is not read in a holy state, for it 
effects conjunction with heaven only when he who 
reads it considers it as holy. This is clearly taught in 
what follows : — 

(124.) "The spiritual and celestial senses of the Word are evolved 
out of the natural sense of the Word, when man, who considers the 
Word holy, reads it. This evolution is instantaneous, and so, conse- 
quently, is consociation" (T. C. R. 234). 

And again its power is impaired when it is read from 
false doctrine, as* appears from what follows : — 

(125.) " Every one is allowed to understand the sense of the letter of 
the Word in simplicity, only he must not confirm the appearances of the 
truth which are there, so as to destroy genuine truth. For the inter- 
pretation of the Word, as to its spiritual sense, from the falsities of 
doctrine closes heaven and does not open it ; but the interpretation of 
the spiritual sense from the truths of doctrine opens heaven" (De Verbo, 
posthumous, No. 7). 

From this it follows, that no one who looks upon 
the Word as a mere human composition can be con- 
joined with heaven by reading it, even although it is 
composed of correspondences, and by correspond- 
ences conjunction is effected with heaven. The Word 
of God also is shorn of its power when those who 
read it are confirmed in false doctrines. 

But, on the other hand, it appears that those who 
read the Word from true doctrine have heaven opened 
to them, and that they are conjoined with the angels, 
who perceive the unperverted Word of God in their 
minds. 



SWEDENBORG AS A TRANSLATOR. 165 

Another means by which the power of the Word of 
God is impaired on earth is by a false translation. 
For by a false translation the continuity of the internal 
sense is broken just as much as when a word is 
dropped out of it. For when a word in the Sacred 
Scripture is wrongly translated, the passage in which 
it occurs causes a wrong idea in the mind, and if the 
idea be a central one, it may cast a false spiritual light 
over a whole chapter. 

For instance, in Luther's German translation of 
Genesis (xi. 2), where the building of the tower of 
Babel is described, we read, " As they journeyed east- 
ward, they found a plain in the land of Shinar," 
whereas the true translation is, " As they journeyed 
from the east!' The meaning of the passage in a 
genuine translation is, that as the Church was moving 
away from the Lord, who is the East, they came into 
the state of evil represented by Shinar; but the words 
as translated by Luther give this spiritual meaning: 
As the Church was moving towards the Lord, who is 
represented by the East, they came into the state of 
evil represented by Shinar. 

Again, in the story of Pharaoh's baker (Gen. xl. 
16), we read these words : " I also was in my dream, 
and behold I had three white baskets upon my head." 
Instead of white the translation ought to have been 
perforated, or f nil of holes, which is a marginal reading. 
Now, the whole spiritual lesson of this dream hinges 
upon the fact of the baskets being perforated, and by 
substituting white instead, it is impossible for the 
internal sense to be evolved out of the literal sense. 
For by the three baskets are represented the three 



1 66 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

degrees of the human mind, and by the head of the 
baker on which they rested is meant man's sensual 
degree, where all his evils are contained ; when the 
degrees of the mind are properly organized of goods 
and truths, and thus not perforated, then the life of 
the Lord flowing into man is received in one of these 
degrees, and does not flow into what is man's own, or 
his proprium, represented by the baker's head ; but 
when the intermediate degrees are not organized, and 
when thus there are no planes of perception or con- 
science in man, the degrees of a man's mind are then 
said to be perforated, and then the life from the Lord 
flows into man's proprium, and is there turned into 
evil and falsity. Wherefore also we read that Pharaoh's 
baker was condemned and hanged. Now the whole 
of this spiritual lesson is taken away from the letter 
of the Word when the word white is substituted 
for perforated. And so it is in a great number of 
other cases in the received English version of the 
Scriptures. 

In the common English version we read (i Kings 
vi. 7) : " And the house, when it was in building, was 
built of stone made ready before it was brought 
thither," — whereas the real translation, warranted by 
the internal sense, reads thus : " As to the house itself, 
while it was being built, it was built of unhewn stone, 
just as it was brought thither." The very lesson 
which is intended to be taught in this passage of 
Scripture is lost as soon as it is intimated that the 
chisel passed in any wise _over the surface of the 
stones, whether in the quarry or in the house of the 
Lord. For, building the house of the Lord of hewn 



SWEDENBORG AS A TRANSLATOR. 167 

stones, or moving the chisel over it, is descriptive of 
the Church being built of truths furnished by man's 
self-derived intelligence, which is an abomination. 

Again, there is the well-known passage (Ps. cxxvii. 
2): " For so He giveth His beloved sleep;" which 
ought to read thus : " for He giveth it to His beloved 
in sleep," i.e. the Lord gives good to His beloved when 
they are not aware of it. 

In the 133rd Psalm, again, the 3rd verse in a 
genuine translation reads thus : "As the dew of Hermon 
that descendeth upon the mountains of Zion." By 
Hermon, which is the highest mountain in Canaan, is 
meant heaven, and by the dew of Hermon descend- 
ing upon the mountains of Zion, is meant that the truth 
of peace descends out of heaven into the hearts of 
those who are in genuine love to the Lord. As 
mount Hermon and the mountains of Zion, however, are 
in nature many hundred miles apart, and as in a 
natural sense the dew of Hermon can never descend on 
the mountains of Zion, the English translators thought 
it necessary to render the passage thus: "As the dew 
of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the 
mountains of Zion." 

In the 23rd Psalm this passage occurs in the com- 
mon English version : " Yea, though I walk through 
the valley of the shadow OF DEATH, / will fear no 
evil;" as if it was descriptive of man's passage by 
death from this world into the other, when yet the 
real translation is simply, " Yea, though I walk through 
the valley of shade" or darkness, which means: Though 
I should be in severe temptation I shall not be afraid 
of the powers of hell. By the valley of the shadow of 



168 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

death, would be meant a state of spiritual death, or of 
spiritual damnation, which is not meant here. 

In the Xew Testament we shall only advert to the 
passage in John (i. 3), where we read in the common 
English version: " All things were made by Him" 
i.e. by God ; when yet it ought to read : All things 
were made by it, or by the same, i.e. by the Word, 
which is the rendering required by the internal 
sense. 

It would have been easy for us to select hundreds of 
pages of inaccurate renderings from the authorized 
English version of the Scriptures, out of which it is 
impossible to evolve the spiritual sense either in this 
or in the other world. But these few instances we 
think are sufficient to show that in order to make a 
genuine translation of the Word of God it is absolutely 
necessary that the translators should be acquainted 
with the internal sense of the passages which they are 
translating, and, of course, that they should have a 
sufficient acquaintance with the doctrine of corre- 
spondences. 

This knowledge was possessed in a super-eminent 
degree by Emanuel Swedenborg, but it was not 
possessed by the English translators employed in 
making what is known as King James's version, nor, 
so far as we know, is it possessed by those scholars 
who are now engaged in the Jerusalem Chamber 
at Westminster in revising King James's version. 
But as neither of these bodies was or is acquainted 
with the internal sense of the Sacred Scripture, and as 
not one of their number had or has a knowledge of 
correspondences which can in any way be compared 



SWEDENBORG AS A TRANSLATOR. 169 

with that of Swedenborg, so neither can their version 
of the Scripture compare with Swedenborg's version. 
His translation was made with a single eye to the 
interior spiritual meaning of the Word of God, and 
therefore his version of Scripture, as it is scattered 
over his voluminous writings, ought to remain for ever 
the standard of our translation of the Scripture. 

It is true his version is in Latin, and not in English ; 
but it is a comparatively easy work to prepare an 
English translation from the Latin. For Latin words 
have generally only one meaning, while in Hebrew we 
have sometimes to decide among half a dozen different 
meanings, all of which, from a philological point of 
view, are equally plausible and correct. Swedenborg 
himself uses on this subject the following language: — 

(126.) "From this chapter and other prophetical writings of that 
time it may appear sufficiently clear that very many things are not 
expressed in the letter which yet are inmostly contained in its words. 
The reason is that the spirit who pronounces the Word beholds quite 
a number of things which cannot be expressed by [human] words ; and 
these things then fall into such expressions [as we find in the various 
prophetical writings] ; these expressions, however, are different with 
one prophet from what they are with another. I can testify how many 
things are contained in thought and speech when they are spiritual ; and 
that they can never be expressed [in natural language], and if expressed 
they would appear unconnected. For often one single spiritual idea 
requires a long exposition. The contents of the prophetical writing 
can, therefore, never be explained by any spirit or any man, but only 
by God-Messiah, who has spoken through the angels. As the words of 
Scripture, therefore, have such a wonderful origin, in order to make out 
some sense one translator construes the sentence differently from 
another translator. So that in a single verse as many meanings may be 
discovered as there are translators ; the real itieaning of the letter, how- 
ever, appears from the inmost ; and, consequently, from the connection 
of what precedes and follows " {Adv. iv. p. 66). 



17 o AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH 

As the Word of God may be translated in so many 
fashions, we must be cautious therefore in placing our 
faith in any one translator, or in a whole company of 
translators, who lack that view " from the inmost " 
which Swedenborg declares is indispensable for making 
a genuine translation of the letter of the Word. 

But as Swedenborg, on the contrary, has enjoyed 
this view of the Word of God " from the inmost," we 
have every reason to rest our faith upon him, and to 
regard his Latin translation of the Sacred Scripture, 
which is scattered over his theological writings, as our 
standard version of the Word of God. And we must 
condemn, in the strongest possible language, the 
practice which prevails with some of Swedenborg's 
translators of superseding his version of Scripture, in 
his own works, by the common English version. In 
Scripture those who are on the roof of the house are 
warned not to come down to take anything out of the 
hoicse. But those who exchange a version of the 
Scripture which has been prepared with the complete 
knowledge of the internal sense, for one which has 
been prepared in a state of utter ignorance of that 
sense, certainly violate this injunction of the Lord in 
its spiritual signification. 

A general condemnation, however, of the translations 
of Scripture which are in current use at the present 
time is contained in the following additional words of 
Swedenborg : " No one at the present day cares for 
anything except the merely literal sense of the Word, 
because mankind are in the last or ultimate, and in 
natural things even to such a point that they are alto- 
gether ignorant of spiritual things ; wherefore the 



SWEDENBORG AS A TRANSLATOR. 171 

translators of Scripture also are in a like state of per- 
suasion, and are little interested in translating the very 
words of the text from their original source, as Schmi- 
dius has done, but affect a mere elegance of style, as 
is the case with most. The very words [of Scripture] 
have thereby been changed into such as have a merely 
historical import, and they have thereby been deprived 
of all light, which dwells only in that sense which is 
to be evolved out of the very words of the Lord " 
{Adv. ii. 363). This, then, is a sufficient reason why 
we should have in the New Church our own transla- 
tion of the Bible, based on Swedenborg's version of 
the original text. 

This work is one of paramount importance for the 
New Church at the present day ; for it is only by the 
letter of the Word that conjunction can be effected 
between heaven and earth, and not by the doctrines of 
the internal sense, independently of the letter. And 
not until we have a genuine translation of the letter of 
the Word will the New Jerusalem Church be able 
to be conjoined in fulness with the New Heaven, 
out of which all its strength, its life, and its light, 
descend. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

THE DOCTRINES OF THE NEW CHURCH IN THEIR 
RELATION TO HUMAN FREEDOM. 

A XOTHER objection to the Divine authority of 
1 Tjl the writings of the New Church is advanced 
by those who say that if we claim a Divine authority 
for the teachings contained in Swedenborg's theolo- 
gical writings, or if we claim a higher authority for 
his writings than for those of other writers on spiritual 
subjects, we expose ourselves to a charge oi dogmatism, 
and coerce and limit the freedom of the members of 
the Church. 

All those who believe the testimony of Swedenborg, 
and who believe that the Lord has effected His 
Second Coming through his instrumentality ; all 
those, consequently, who believe that the doctrines of 
the internal sense of the Word of God, and hence 
that the doctrines or teachings of the Xew Jerusalem, 
are contained in Swedenborg's theological writings, 
are stigmatized by these persons as dogmatists, and 
they are charged as desiring to break down intellec- 
tual freedom in the Church. 

'•' We, Xew Churchmen." says one of their expo- 
nents, 1 '•' must object to the attempt to claim for the 

1 Minutes of the New Church Conference, 1873, p. 38. 



DOCTRINE AND HUMAN FREEDOM. 173 

inferences which men [and among these men the 
writer includes Swedenborg] have drawn from their 
study of Scripture an almost Divine sanction and 
authority, or to press such inferences when formulated 
into Articles of Faith and Creeds as of equal obliga- 
tion with the words of Scripture. . . . The principle 
which underlies all such dogmatism is even frightfully 
false — that men must not seek rationally to under- 
stand the dogmas of faith, but must accept them. . . . 
Against such dogmatism we must continually, and 
most strongly, protest." 

As a general protest against all merely dogmatic 
teaching on the part of the ministers and leaders of 
the Church, we fully agree with every word expressed 
here by the writer ; for Swedenborg himself warns us 
against the dangers of dogmatism in these words : 
" For those who are in an affirmative principle in 
respect to the Word, viz., that it is to be believed, it 
is injurious to hold that the teachings of faith are to 
be believed simply without any rational intuition, 
because every one may thus be deprived of freedom 
of thought, and his conscience may be bound even to 
the most egregious heresy, and both his internal and 
external may thus be ruled over by others" (A. C. 
3394). There is therefore no doubt whatever that 
this writer is perfectly justified in declaring that " no 
man has dealt heavier blows against dogmatic teach- 
ing than Swedenborg " (p. 44), and that " there is not 
the slightest suspicion of dogmatism in this ' servant 
of the Lord ' " (p. 48). 

Yet, while inveighing, on the one hand, against all 
those who claim a Divine sanction and authority for 



174 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

the figments of their own reason and imagination in 
matters of the Church, Swedenborg, on the other, is 
most careful to place the Divine Truth revealed from 
God out of heaven beyond the arbitrament of human 
reason, and he insists most strongly that Divine Truth, 
or the doctrine of the Sacred Scriptures, must not on 
any account be submitted to the scrutiny and judgment 
of human reason, but that it must be accepted as true 
and infallible by human reason, and be confirmed by 
rational, scientific, and sensual things. 

While teaching, therefore, that it is wrong for one 
man to receive blindly the teachings of another man 
on spiritual things, Swedenborg nevertheless insists 
that human reason must bow to the utterances of God 
in the Sacred Scripture, and hence to the doctrines of 
the New Jerusalem, which are understood in the Book 
of Revelation by "the holy city, New Jerusalem, 
coming down from God out of heaven." 

As the writer, however, as we have proved from 
p. 52 to p. 54, does not regard the teachings of Sweden- 
borg, whom " the Lord filled with His Spirit to teach 
the doctrines of the New Church by the Word from 
Him," as Divine and infallible, he is logically com- 
pelled to regard his doctrines as mere " inferences 
which he drew from his study of Scripture ;" and he, 
together with all w r ho accept his views, regard those 
as dogmatists who, in accordance with T. C. R. 779, 
believe that the Lord has effected His Second Coming 
through the instrumentality of Swedenborg, and who 
teach that the works which he wrote " as the Lord's 
servant" are on that account infallible and of Divine 
authority. 



DOCTRINE AND HUMAN FREEDOM. 175 

The general argument which the writer, on p. 38, 
has directed against all dogmatic teaching is directed 
by him also against those who maintain publicly that 
the contents of Swedenborg's theological writings are 
infallible and of Divine import, and the form in which 
he applies it to them is this : — 

All those who urge that the teachings contained in 
Swedenborg's theological writings are " of equal obli- 
gation with the words of Scripture," acknowledge the 
principle that " men must not seek rationally to 
understand the dogmas of faith, but must accept 
them." He therefore maintains that the acknowledg- 
ment of the Divinity of the doctrines of the internal 
sense, or of the doctrines contained in Swedenborg's 
theological writings, is incompatible with the use of 
man's freedom and rationality. Let us hear the doc- 
trine of the New Church on the subject : — 

(127.) "The acknowledgment of what is Divine is the first thing; 
for then an idea of holiness is present, which gives universal confirma- 
tion to each and everything that is said, even though it be not compre- 
hended. Nevertheless, the things said must be accommodated to every- 
one's understanding ; for it is not sufficient that man should know that 
a thing is, but he desires to know also what it is, and how it is, so that 
some confirmation may accrue thence to the intellectual part, and vice 
versa from the understanding to the subject treated of. Unless this is 
done a thing may be indeed committed to the memory, but it remains 
there scarcely otherwise than as a dead thing or a mere sound ; and 
unless some confirming proofs infix it, from whatever source they may 
be derived, the remembrance of anything will be dissipated like a mere 
sound" {A. C. 3388). 

While Swedenborg, therefore, declares that the 
affirmation of what is Divine, and thus the acknow- 
ledgment of what is Divine as an authority, must come 
first, and rational thought afterwards, and hence, 



176 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

while he declares that the acknowledgment of a truth 
as Divine, " even though it be not comprehended," is 
perfectly compatible with rational thought, this is 
denied by the writer, and he, moreover, declares that 
" the principle which underlies all such dogmatism is 
frightfully false." Again, Swedenborg says : — 

(128.) " With doctrine the case is this ; it becomes a nullity in pro- 
portion to the human, i.e. to the sensual, scientific, and rational from 
which it is believed to be so. But in proportion to the removal of what 
is sensual, scientific, and rational, i.e. in proportion as 'doctrine is be- 
lieved without these, in the same proportion doctrine lives ; for in the 
same proportion what is Divine flows in. The things belonging to 
what is human impede influx and reception. It is one thing to be- 
lieve from what is rational, scientific, and sensual, or to consult them 
in order to cause belief, and another thing to confirm and corroborate 
what is believed by things rational, scientific, and sensual" {A. C. 
2533). 

While Swedenborg therefore teaches that " doctrine 
lives in proportion to the removal of what is sensual, 
scientific, and rational, i.e. in proportion as doctrine is 
believed without these," this writer maintains that 
" only so far as Scripture and rational thought estab- 
lish in the mind of any man either the philosophy 
or the facts [of the spiritual world], does he [Sweden- 
borg] require any one to believe, or does he justify 
any one in believing" (p. 48). Swedenborg con- 
tinues : — 

(129.) " Intellectual truth does not appear, i.e. is not acknowledged, 
until fallacies and appearances are dispersed, and these are not dis- 
persed so long as man reasons concerning the very truths from sensual 
and scientific things ; only when man believes from a simple heart that 
a thing is true because the Lord has said so, then only the shades of 
fallacies are dispersed with him, and it no longer matters to him 
whether he comprehend a thing or not" [A. C. 191 1). 



DOCTRINE AND HUMAN FREEDOM. 177 

In reply to this the writer says (p. 47), " We must 
wish to understand somewhat of the process of genera- 
tion by which the doctrines Swedenborg teaches came 
to exist in his mind, before we can be ready to accept 
many of them as subjects of meditation and research. 
But he does not require us to believe a single one of 
these dogmas, except so far as the scriptural and 
rational proof which he offers produces conviction in 
the mind. If he did he would prove false to his own 
justification of his mission. ' Now it is allowable to 
enter intellectually into the mysteries of faith ! ' We 
1 enter intellectually into the mysteries of faith ' only so 
far as we rationally perceive and understand the 
truths that we believe." 

Great stress is laid by all those who are unwilling 
to acknowledge the teachings of the internal sense as 
the law of the Church upon this quotation from the 
writings of the New Church, " Now it is allowable to 
enter intellectually into the mysteries of faith ; " so 
that it becomes a matter of consequence to know what 
is really meant by this passage. The whole of this 
passage reads as follows : — 



(130.) "In the New Church it is allowed to enter and penetrate by 
the understanding into all its mysteries, and also to confirm them by the 
Word ; because its doctrines are continuous truths revealed by the Lord 
through the Word {a Domino per Verbutri); and the confirmations of 
these doctrines by rational things have this effect, that the understand- 
ing is opened more and more above, and thus is elevated into the light 
in which are the angels of heaven ; and this light in its essence is truth, 
and in this light the acknowledgment of the Lord as the God of heaven 
and earth shines in its glory. This is understood by Nunc licet, i.e. now 
it is permitted to enter intellectually into the mysteries of faith" 

(T. a r. 508). 

M 



178 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

Swedenborg teaches here that by Nunc licet is 
signified that " the doctrines of the New Church, 
which are continuous truths revealed from the Lord by 
the Word, are to be confirmed by rational things;" 
he teaches therefore that the doctrines of the New 
Church are to be believed first, and afterwards to be 
confirmed by rational considerations. But the writer 
says the meaning of Nunc licet is, that " not a single 
one of these dogmas is to be believed, except so far as 
the scriptural and rational proof which Swedenborg 
offers produces conviction in the mind ; " with him 
rational thought or reason comes first, and doctrine 
last, and the effect of this is that he acknowledges 
only so much of the doctrines of the New Church, 
" which are continuous truths revealed from the 
Lord," to be true, as he is willing or able to com- 
prehend with his reason. 

The writer, it is true, speaks here of " scriptural " and 
'! rational " proof, and in another place he says that 
" Scripture and rational thought establish in the mind 
the philosophy and the facts of the spiritual world " 
(p. 48). By " scriptural proof " and "Scripture" the 
author means here proof drawn from the letter of the 
Word. This he is willing to accept as his authority. 
Let us see what Swedenborg says in respect to the 
letter of the Word as a source of authority. 

(131.) " He who is intelligent may know that the Word is most holy, 
and that its literal sense is holy from its internal sense, and that when 
it is separated from it it is not holy ; for when this sense is separated 
from the internal it is like man's external separate from his internal, 
which is an image without life ; and it is like the bark of a tree, of a 
flower, fruit, or seed without their internals, and it is like a foundation 
without a house. Wherefore, if any cling to the letter of the Word, and 



DOCTRINE AND HUMAN FREEDOM. 179 

have no doctrine, or if they do not provide for themselves a doctrine 
from the Word which agrees with its internal sense, they may be drawn 
into all sorts of heresies ; wherefore the Word by such is called a book 
of heresies. Doctrine itself from the Word ought to shine before a man 
and to lead ; but doctrine itself is taught by the internal sense, and 
he who knows that doctrine has the internal sense of the Word " 
(A. C. 10,276). 

Again we read : — 

(132.) " Those who read the Word without doctrine are in obscurity 
with respect to all truth, and their mind is vague and uncertain, prone 
to errors, and also inclined to heresies, which are also embraced 
when favour or authority prompt and reputation is not in danger" 
(T. C. R. 228). 

(133.) "The literal sense may be turned in various directions, and be 
explained according to the comprehension " ( T. C. R. 260 ; see also 
T. C. R. 207). 

From this it follows that the letter of the Word 
without the doctrine of the internal sense may be 
bent by man in various directions, and that by means 
of it he may confirm thereby whatever he pleases ; 
wherefore an appeal to the letter of the Word without 
appealing, at the same time, to the doctrines of the 
internal sense, and acknowledging them as authorita- 
tive, is equivalent to an acknowledgment of no 
authority, and of no criterion of the truth. On this 
account also an appeal to ''scriptural and rational 
proof," when by the Scripture is understood the letter 
of the Word only, means an appeal to human reason, 
and nothing else. 

If the writer should say that he does not deny the 
" doctrines " which are contained in Swedenborg's 
writings, and consequently that he does not deny " the 
doctrines of the internal sense," he still does not 



180 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

admit them as a final authority, or as a law by which 
his own interpretation of the Scripture, and the find- 
ings of his reason, are to be governed ; for he says 
expressly that these doctrines or dogmas are not to be 
believed " except so far as the scriptural and rational 
proof which Swedenborg offers produces conviction in 
the mind " (p. 47). With respect to some of the 
doctrines which Swedenborg teaches, he is not even 
willing " to accept them as subjects of meditation and 
research," before, as he says, " somewhat of the process 
of generation is understood by which these doctrines 
came to exist in his mind " {Ibid). 

It is very evident, therefore, that according to the 
writer not only the interpretation of the literal sense, 
but also the doctrines of the internal sense, are to be 
subjected to man's rational thought, and thus that 
human reason is the ultimate authority not only in all 
matters respecting the Church, but also respecting 
heaven and the Lord. 

The question whether human reason is to be con- 
sulted in matters of faith has been treated at some 
length in Chapter IV. ; but as the whole subject of 
authority and law in the Church is bound up in this 
question it is necessary to speak of it at greater length. 

We have seen that the doctrines of the New 
Jerusalem were revealed by the Lord to mankind 
through the instrumentality of Swedenborg, and that 
they were revealed through him by a process of 
internal inspiration. We have seen further that this 
internal inspiration was perfectly compatible with a 
state of freedom and rationality on the part of Sweden- 
borg, and that while communicating to mankind the 



DOCTRINE AND HUMAN FREEDOM. 1S1 

results of his inspiration, he was in a state of freedom 
itself and rationality itself, by which he was enabled 
to perceive and understand clearly what he wrote, 
without his reason, on that account, interfering in 
the least with the Divine character of the doctrines 
promulgated through him. We shall now take a 
still higher and stronger ground, and prove from the 
writings of the New Church that it was absolutely 
impossible for Swedenborg's reason or for his rational 
thought to contribute anything whatever to the doc- 
trines of the New Church. We read as follows : — 



(134.) " There is no doctrine from the rational, because the rational 
is in the appearance of what is good and true ; and these appearances 
are not truths in themselves. Besides, below the rational are fallacies 
which are from external sensual things confirmed by scientifics, and 
these cause a shade in the appearances of the truth. 

"The rational as to its greatest part is merely human, as may appear ( 
also from its nativity. On this account no doctrinal of faith can be [ 
derived from, and still less be based upon it ; but it must be from the / 
very Divine of the Lord, and from His Divine Human. Such must be ] 
its origin, and even to such an extent that the Lord is Doctrine Itself; 
wherefore also He is called in the Word, The Word, the Truth, the 
Light, the Way, and the Door. Besides, every doctrinal is from the } 
Divine Good and the Divine Truth, and has within it the heavenly 
marriage, which is a mystery. The doctrinal which has not within it 
this marriage is not a genuine doctrinal of faith. Hence it is that in all 
the particulars of the Word, whence doctrine is, there is such a marriage. 
It seems, indeed, as if the doctrine of faith in the literal or external 
sense of the Word had many things from the rational, yea, from the 
natural ; but this is because the Word is for man, to whom it is 
accommodated ; but nevertheless in itself it is spiritual from a celestial 
origin, i.e. it is from Divine Truth conjoined with Divine Good"^ 
(A. C. 2196). 

So also it seems as if there were many things from 
Swedenborg's rational and natural in the statement 



1 82 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH 

of the doctrines of the New Jerusalem in his theo- 
logical writings ; yet to these writings also applies 
the language quoted here in connection with the 
letter of the Word ; for these writings also " are 
for man, to whom they are accommodated ; " but, 
nevertheless, the doctrinal contents of these writings 
in themselves are •' spiritual from a celestial origin, i.e. 
they are from Divine Truth conjoined with Divine 
Good." Again we read : — 

(135. ) "In the doctrine of faith, rational truth is not consulted in any 
manner, because all the doctrinals of faith are from the Divine, which is 
infinitely above the human rational. From the Divine the rational 
receives its good and truth. The Divine may enter into the rational, 
but not vice versa ; just as the soul can enter into the body and form it, 
but not the body into the soul ; or as the light can enter into the shade 
and modify it into colours by various modes, but not shade into light " 
(A. C. 2519). 

If the rational, however, has no share in the forma- 
tion of doctrine, it is perfectly presumptuous for us to 
lay down a rule that nothing pertaining to doctrine 
is to be believed except in proportion as we can com- 
prehend it with our rational thought ; wherefore we 
read again : — 

(136.) " With all Divine Truths it is thus, that if the rational be con- 
sulted concerning them they can never be believed ; for they are above 
its comprehension. The rational ought not to be trusted, because it is 
in fallacies and appearances ; wherefore it rejects truths which are 
denuded of fallacies and appearances ; and this so much the more when 
man is in the love of self and in its lusts, and in the reasonings, as well 
as in the principles, of what is false concerning faith" (A. C. 1936). 
And we read further, "The rational is such that it can never com- 
prehend Divine things ; for it is finite, and this cannot comprehend those 
things which are infinite" [A. C. 3365). Yea, we read, "When the 
rational is consulted in the doctrine of faith this is destroyed " {A. C. 
2519, 2520). 



DOCTRINE AND HUMAN FREEDOM. 183 

The doctrines of the New Church, therefore, are 
very far from teaching that man must not believe 
Divine Truth except so far as it agrees with human 
reason, or so far as it can be compassed by human 
reason ; yea, throughout these writings it is laid down 
as a first condition of faith, or of the building-up of 
the Church in man, that he should in an affirmative, 
and thus in a believing, spirit receive the doctrine of 
faith which was revealed from God out of heaven. 
We accordingly read as follows : — 

(137.) "The beginning must not be from scientifics or matters of 
science, nor ought man to enter by them into the truths of faith ; for 
scientifics with man take their origin from the things of the senses, and 
thus from the world, from which there arise innumerable fallacies ; but 
the beginning must be made from the truths of faith " (A. C. 6047). 

Again we read : — 

(138.) (i The first means by which the internal man is conjoined with 
the external, is an affirmative principle with regard to internal truth, 
viz., that it is so. When man is in an affirmative state he is in the 
beginning of regeneration : good from the internal operates and causes 
affirmation. This good cannot flow into a negative, nor even into a 
doubtful, state, until it becomes affirmative ; and this good afterwards 
manifests itself by affection, that is, by man's becoming affected by truth, 
and beginning to be delighted with it ; first by knowing, and afterwards 
by doing it. For instance, unless the truth that the Lord is the salva- 
tion of the human race is made an affirmative principle by man, none 
of the things which he has learned respecting the Lord from the Word, or 
in the Church, and which are in the memory of his natural mind among 
scientifics, can be conjoined with his internal man ; that is, they cannot 
be conjoined with the things which in the internal man might be of 
faith ; hence affection cannot flow in, not even into the generals of that 
which is conducive to man's salvation. But when the state of man is 
affirmative, then innumerable things are added, and are fitted by the good 
which flows in ; for good continually flows in from the Lord, but where 
there is no affirmative state it is not received. An affirmative principle, 



1 84 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

therefore, is the first subservient means, and as it were the first dwelling- 
place for the good which flows in from the Lord. The same is the case 
with all the other truths which are called matters of faith " {A. C. 3913). 

We see, therefore, that if a man desires to be 
regenerated by the Lord, or to have the Church built 
up within him, he must refrain from subjecting the 
truths of faith or the teachings of the Word of God to 
his own rational thought formed from the sensual, 
scientific, and philosophical things of this world ; and 
that, on the contrary, he must endeavour to continue 
in an affirmative state in respect to these truths. 
The doctrine of the internal sense is so positive on 
this subject that it even declares those to be spiritually 
drunken who believe nothing but what they can thus 
comprehend, as appears clearly from the following 
passage : — 

(139.) " Those are called drunken who believe nothing but what they 
comprehend, and who therefore investigate the mysteries of faith ; and 
as this, according to the quality of the man, is done either from sensual, 
scientific, or philosophical things, it cannot be otherwise but that he 
should fall into errors. Man's thought is but earthly, corporeal, and 
material, because it is derived from earthly, bodily, and material things, 
which constantly adhere, and upon which the ideas of his thought are 
founded, and in which they terminate. Wherefore, when he thinks 
and reasons on Divine things from them, he is borne into errors and 
perversions, and it is as impossible to acquire faith thence as for a 
camel to pass through the eye of a needle. The error and insanity 
thence are called drunkenness in the Word" {A. C. 1072). 

Again we read : — 

(140.) "It may be known to everyone that man is ruled by the 
principles he adopts, even though they be most false; and also that all 
his science and all his reasoning favour these principles ; for innumer-. 
able proofs present themselves, and man is thus confirmed in falsities. 
If, therefore, any one has assumed as a principle that he is not required 



DOCTRINE AND HUMAN FREEDOM. 185 

to believe until he see and understand, he will never believe ; because 
spiritual and celestial things cannot be seen with the eyes, nor grasped 
with the fantasy. 

" True order, however, is that a man should know or be wise from 
the Lord, i.e. from His Word ; then all things succeed in proper order, 
and then he is also illustrated in rational and scientific things. For 
man is never forbidden to learn the sciences, since they are useful and 
pleasant in life ; and he who is in faith is not at all prohibited from 
speaking as the learned do in the world ; he must do so, however, from 
this principle, that the Word of God ought to be believed, and that 
spiritual and celestial truths ought to be confirmed by natural truths, to 
the utmost of his ability, and indeed in terms familiar to the learned 
world. Wherefore a man's principle must be from the Lord, and not 
from himself. The former is life, but the latter death" {A. C. 129). 

It is especially wrong to throw doubt upon the 
truths or doctrines of the internal sense, and thereby 
to question their authority. Doing so is regarded by 
some as a mark of superior intelligence and wisdom, 
while accepting the teachings of Divine Truth in an 
affirmative spirit, without questioning their authority, 
is considered by them as a sign of illiberality, and of 
weakness of intellect. Yet the way to wisdom is open 
only to him who studies revealed truth in an affirma- 
tive spirit, and it is closed against him who investigates 
it in a negative state (see No. 30), and who raises 
doubts on the plea that the doctrine is opposed to the 
appearances upon which his rational thought is based, 
or who condemns a truth unheard, because he denies 
( that the man through whom the truth was communi- 
cated from the Lord to mankind was inspired. On 
this subject we read as follows : — 

(141.) "When experience is clear and certain [as in the case of 
Swedenborg's mission], it ought not to be doubted because the appear- 
ance is different, and because the causes are not known ; as is the case 



i86 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

with many things in nature which are attested by experience and ought 
to be believed. As for instance, that it is possible to navigate around 
the globe, and even on the side opposite to our feet ; for this is certain, 
because proved by experience. Who in the world would doubt this, 
because there is a different appearance, and he does not know the 
cause? In this case there would be innumerable things in the nature 
of things which he could not believe, and which, nevertheless, are 
such. 

" The case is exactly the same in the spiritual world, especially with 
the things of faith, which ought not to be doubted, and still less 
rejected, because we do not comprehend their causes, and because they 
are not in agreement with appearances. These things are truths, because 
the Lord, who is Truth Itself, has spoken the?n ; as for instance, that it is 
the Lord Himself who lives, and that all other lives in the earths and 
in the heavens are of no account, with other similar things. These 
things are also opposed to appearances, but yet they are true ; and they 
ought not to be denied, because we cannot understand them, and be- 
cause it seems to us as if we lived from ourselves" (S. D. 2545). 

Again we read : — 

(142.) "The truth of a thing ought not to be controverted from 
causes or reasons ; and if no causes or no reasons can be found, the 
truth ought not on that account to be enfeebled or denied, as people are 
in the habit of doing ; but it ought to be believed because it is true. 
If any one desires to investigate its causes he is quite at liberty to do 
so, only if he does not find any causes, or if many things present them- 
selves which he cannot solve, he ought not on that account to deny the 
truth. If, in the case of the things of nature, which we see with the 
eyes, and seize with our senses, we should deny all those for which no 
reasons are found, there would be no natural truth left in any of the 
kingdoms" {S. D. 2651). 

The reason, however, why a man ought not to 
reason from himself respecting the truths of faith, and 
why he ought not to raise doubts respecting them is, 
because all such reasonings and all such doubts pro- 
ceed from a denial of these truths at heart, as is clearly 
proved by the following passages : — 



DOCTRINE AND HUMAN FREEDOM. 187 

(143.) "Those who had commenced reasoning [from themselves; 
compare D. P. 219] respecting the things which pertain to spiritual and 
celestial life, or the things which are of faith, were perceived to be in a 
state of doubt, yea, of denial : for reasoning [from one's-self] concerning 
faith is doubting and denying. And because they do so from themselves 
or from proprhwi, they fall into mere falsities, and hence into an abyss 
of darkness, i.e. of falsities. When they are in such an abyss the least 
scruple prevails over a thousand truths, and this scruple is then like a 
particle of dust placed before the pupil of the eye, which prevents the 
universe, and everything in the universe, from being seen" (A. C. 215; 
see also S. D. 361 1). 

Swedenborg has again and again protested against 
the pernicious practice of raising objections and 
doubts as to the truths of faith or the doctrines of 
the Word. In addition to what we have adduced 
from A. C. 6749 in No. 35, he says : — 

(144. ) "I conversed with spirits concerning those who frame objections 
to the knowledges of faith, and I stated that this is an indication 
that they are in a state of doubt and denial ; wherefore no objections 
ought to be formed, because they are doubts and negations. For a 
thousand books may be filled with objections ; wherefore confirmations 
only ought to be assumed as means of introduction. Those in heaven 
are of such a quality that they love only confirmations and reject 
objections ; they do so also because objections are indefinite, and 
because thus scarcely anything can be known, even of such things as 
are in lowest nature" (S. D. 3602). 

The advantage resulting to the members of the 
Church from discarding all objections and doubts 
respecting the truths of faith, and hence respecting 
the teachings of the internal sense, is clearly set forth 
by Swedenborg in what follows : — 

(145). " Those who do net admit objections respecting the knowledges of 
faith are secure from evil spirits. 

" Some spirits complained that they could no longer be present with 
me because I remained in the knowledges of faith, and they were for- 



1 88 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

bidden to advance objections. They said that thus they had nothing 
by which to ]ead, and they added likewise, nothing by which to seduce ; 
for chiefly by such things they seduce men. In the presence of one 
objection, confirming truths, no matter how many they may be, are of 
no account ; for man is then led by his lusts, which produce fantasies, 
and which gladly admit objections ; yea, one single objection with man 
is then more powerful than a thousand confirmations. In order that 
man may be in the truth or in true faith, he must therefore assume the 
opposite position, and declare that one truth is worth more than thousands 
and myriads of objections ; in that case also evil spirits are put to 
flight, because they cannot live in such a sphere" {S. D. 3614). 

But in the face of this overwhelming testimony of 
Swedenborg showing that human reason has no share 
in the formation of the doctrine of faith, and that 
therefore doctrine ought to be believed first, and 
afterwards confirmed by rational, scientific, and sen- 
sual considerations, the authority of Swedenborg is 
invoked in support of the following position: 1 — * 
" Swedenborg's aversion to dogmatism is strikingly 
shown in the way in which he opposes the mind- 
benumbing notion that the reason is to be kept in 
subordination to the teachings of faith. On the con- 
trary, he teaches that men can truly believe only that 
which they are able to intellectually see to be true. 
He says that the angels would reprove any one who 
desired them to receive as true what he might state 
on the mere ground that he so stated it : ' Make us to 
see that it is true and then we will believe it!' He 
enforces the teachings of the Saviour that the seeds 
sown on the wayside, which the fowls pick up, repre- 
sent ' those truths that are sown in the memory, but 
which are not understood' Hence one of his com- 

1 Minutes of General Conference, 1873, p. 45. 



DOCTRINE AND HUMAN FREEDOM. 189 

monest phrases is ' the truths of faith,' that is, truths 
seen, understood, and believed. . . . Thus he not only 
warrants investigation, but even provokes it, and pro- 
nounces the human intelligence to be free from the 
old fetters of an unreasoning faith, the blindfold 
acceptance of whatsoever the Church may have 
taught" 

In order to reconcile the statements attributed here 
to Swedenborg with those which we have hitherto 
quoted from his writings, it becomes necessary that 
we should have before us the exact words used in 
these writings themselves. We read there : — 

(146.) "Spiritual truths may be comprehended just as well as 
natural truths ; and if not so clearly, still upon being heard they fall 
into the perception whether they are true or not, arid this principally 
with those who are affected with truths. . . . Spiritual things may be 
comprehended, because man as to his understanding may be elevated 
into the light of heaven, in which none but spiritual things appear, 
which are truths of faith j for the light of heaven is spiritual light. 

" Hence then it is that those who are in the spiritual affection of 
truth are in the internal acknowledgment of the truth. And as the 
angels are in that affection, they totally reject the dogma that the 
understanding is under the obedience of faith. For they say, What is 
a belief without seeing whether a thing is true? And if any one says 
that we ought still to believe, they answer : ' Do you consider yourself 
God, whom I ought to believe, or do you think me so insane as to 
believe an assertion in which I do not see any truth ? Cause me to see 
the truth.' Then that dogmatist retreats" (D. F. 3, 4). 

The teaching of the New Church on the subject of 
the seed sown by the wayside is as follows : It signi- 
fies " truth from the Word received simply in the 
memory, and not in the life" (A. C. 1940); further, 
" truths received only by the corporeal sensual degree, 
and not more interiorly" (A. E. 630). And finally: — 



190 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

(147.) " Unless the rational submits itself to the goods and truths of 
the Lord, then the rational either suffocates, rejects, or perverts the 
things that flow in, and still more if they flow into the sensual scientifics 
of the memory. This is meant by the seed falling by the wayside, 
on stony ground, or among thorns (Matt. xiii. 3-7 ; Mark iv. 3-7 ; 
Luke viii. 5-7). But when the rational submits itself, and believes the 
Lord, that is, His Word, then the rational is like the good ground, 
into which the seed falls, and bears much fruit" {A. C. 1940). 

With respect to " the truths of faith," the writings 
say in a general way that they are the truths belong- 
ing to the various doctrines of faith (see A. C. 2053, 
and other passages). Again, they say, " i truths of 
faith ' have reference in the first place to charity as 
their ultimate end, and subsequently they proceed 
from charity as from their first end" (A. C. 777%)', 
further, " truths which have not respect to good are 
not 'truths of faith'" {A. C. 9603). Finally we 
read : — 

(148.) "Those have not 'the truth of faith' who believe that they 
have faith from themselves, and thus who think that they are wise from 
themselves ; but ' the truth of faith ' belongs to those who believe from 
the Lord ; for to these faith and wisdom are granted, because they do 
not attribute to themselves any truth nor any good " (A. C. 4007). 

We see therefore that, according to the teachings 
of our Church, a truth is said to be " sown by the 
wayside" when it is received simply in the under- 
standing or in the memory, and not in the will ; and 
we learn further, that a truth is said " to fall by the 
wayside" when the man of the Church refuses to 
submit his reason to the goods and truths of the 
Lord, i.e. to the teachings of the Word of God. And 
we learn again that a truth becomes "a truth of 



DOCTRINE AND HUMAN FREEDOM. 191 

faith " when it has respect to charity, i.e. when it is 
obeyed by man ; and further, that those only have 
" the truth of faith " who believe from the Lord, and 
not from themselves, i.e. who see the truth in the light 
of heaven, and not in the light of nature, or in 
the light of their own finite reason. We see, there- 
fore, that the writings themselves do not warrant the 
employment of these passages or examples in order 
to prove the superiority of human reason over the 
teachings of God, or over the doctrines of the 
internal sense of the Sacred Scripture. 

Again, from the passages quoted in No. 146 it 
appears that spiritual truths are not above man's 
comprehension : that it is possible, therefore, for man 
to obtain a rational idea of spiritual things, and hence 
of the truths of faith. Yea, we learn that the angels 
refuse altogether to receive a thing communicated to 
them by another unless they first see whether it be 
true. Does this perhaps favour the idea that the 
reason of angels and of men is above the truths of 
faith, and that no member of the Church ought to 
believe a truth of the Word of God, or a doctrine of 
the internal sense which the Lord revealed to man- 
kind through the instrumentality of Swedenborg, 
without first comprehending whether it is true ? 
This passage simply teaches that the angels are 
willing to believe " God," and hence the doctrines 
drawn from the Word of God, but that they are not 
willing to believe an assertion of the truth made by a 
finite angel or spirit unless "he cause them to see 
the truth." 

The angels, therefore, make a distinction between a 



192 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

doctrine taught by God and a doctrine taught by 
finite human beings. The former they regard as 
infallible and authoritative, but the latter not ; and 
they are only willing to accept the latter when the 
person teaching it " causes them to see its truth." 
Such a distinction ought also to be made by the men 
of the Church on earth. While yielding an implicit 
obedience to God, and hence to all doctrine revealed 
from God out of heaven ; while, therefore, accepting 
all Divine Truth as authoritative, they ought to 
challenge every assertion of the truth, whether made 
by laymen or priests, whenever they seek to impose 
upon them the dogma that " the understanding is to 
be kept under the obedience of faith," i.e. whenever 
they maintain that a thing taught by them ought to 
be believed, without their hearers first examining 
whether the thing thus taught is true. And should 
any one still insist on an acceptance of his dogmatic 
teaching, the members of the Church ought to answer 
him in the language of the angels, quoted in No. 
146, "Do you consider yourself God, whom I ought 
to believe, or do you think me so insane as to 
believe an assertion in which I do not see any truth ? 
Cause me to see the truth !" 

We are, therefore, just as much opposed to dog- 
matic preaching in the Church as the writer whose 
opinions we have quoted in these pages. But we 
hold that a distinction ought to be made between 
doctrine revealed from God out of heaven and doc- 
trine as received and established by men ; and while 
we maintain, in accordance with the writings of the 
New. Church, that Divine authority ought to be 






DOCTRINE AND HUMAN FREEDOM. 193 

attributed to the former, and that it should be 
declared superior to reason ; the latter is plainly 
subject to human reason, and we hold that it is 
incumbent upon the members of the Church to 
examine all such doctrine in the light of revealed 
truth, in order to see how much of it is true, and how 
much false. 

This distinction is not made by the writer in ques- 
tion, for he holds that all doctrine is man-made, and 
subject to the frailties of human reason ; " the only 
exception," according to him, being " in the case of 
personal and plenary inspiration> in which the writer is 
no more than an amanuensis of the Divine Wisdom, 
the very words which he records being the very words 
of the Lord. Such," he says, " was the inspiration of 
the Word, but to which no addition will ever be 
made." 1 

1 See Chap. VI. p. 46. 



N 



CHAPTER IX. 

DOCTRINE TWOFOLD, OF GOD AND OF MEN. 

FROM the concluding parts of the preceding 
chapter it appears that doctrine is twofold ; 
and that doctrine as it is revealed from God out of 
heaven is separate and distinct from doctrine as it is 
digested in the minds of men and interpreted by them. 
The former, we hold, is of Divine authority, and 
superior to human reason, while the latter comes 
plainly within the jurisdiction of human reason, and 
is to. be examined in the light of revealed truth, in 
order to see whether it is true or false. 

This distinction, as we have seen, is ignored in the 
Church by some of its members ; and while some of 
them maintain that all doctrine, including that re- 
vealed to us through Swedenborg, is subject to all 
those imperfections, from which none of the works of 
men are exempt, others err on the opposite side, and 
maintain, on the strength of some passages in the 
writings of the New Church, that infallible doctrine 
of Divine authority may be found not only in the 
writings of Swedenborg, but that such doctrine may 
also be deduced from the Word of God by such men 
as are in good, or as are regenerated. Such men, 



DOCTRINE TWOFOLD. 195 

they say, by virtue of the good in which they are, have 
the faculty of perceiving in the Word the truth or 
doctrine corresponding to their good without first 
having been taught it. 

The passages from the doctrines of the New Jeru- 
salem, on which they base themselves, are as follows : — 

(149.) "The Word in the letter can be comprehended only by means 
of doctrine which has been made from the Word by one who is 
illustrated " {H. D. 254). 

(150.) "Doctrine ought to be collected from the Word, and while it 
is being collected man must be in illustration from the Lord ; and he is 
in illustration when he is in the love of truth for the sake of truth, and 
not for the sake of himself and the world. These are they who are 
illustrated in the Word when they read it, and they see the truth, and 
make to themselves doctrine thence" {A. C. 9424). 

From these passages it would seem as if all who 
are " in the love of the truth for the sake of the truth, 
and not for the sake of themselves and the world," 
could be brought into a state similar to that of 
Swedenborg, and as if they could likewise become 
media for the revelation of genuine doctrine from the 
Word to mankind. 

In Chapter VI., Nos. 55 and 113, we have shown 
that Swedenborg's state was a peculiar one, and that no 
one from the beginning of the world up to his time had 
been like him, and that prospectively no one would ever 
come again into a similar state ; and, indeed, because 
the Lord once for all effected His Second Coming 
through the instrumentality of Swedenborg, and it is 
nowhere stated in the Word that the Lord would 
supplement His Second Coming, or would effect a 
third coming. 



196 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

From this position, however, it follows that the 
doctrine revealed by the Lord through the instru- 
mentality of Swedenborg, differs in toio from the 
doctrine which such as "are in the love of truth for 
the sake of truth" are able to make to themselves 
from the Word. And from this it is clear again that 
the words " doctrine " and " doctrinal " are used in the 
writings of the New Church in a twofold sense, and 
that the difference between these two kinds of doc- 
trine, or doctrinals, is as great as between what is 
human and what is Divine. 

The doctrine of the internal sense, as revealed by 
the Lord at His Second Coming, is absolute Divine 
Truth accommodated to the rational understanding of 
men ; and the descent of that doctrine out of heaven 
is equivalent to the revelation of Divine Truth itself. 
This Divine Truth, or this Divine doctrine, was revealed 
by the Lord in the theological writings of Emanuel 
Swedenborg for the benefit of the Church of the New 
Jerusalem. 

That such is the case we have endeavoured to show 
in Chapter II., and also the whole of Chapter VI. 
tends to prove this position. 

That the Lord effected His Second Coming, once 
for all, through Emanuel Swedenborg, is taught in the 
following passages: — T. C. R. 779 (Nos. 6 and 7); 
A. 'R. 820 (No. 12) ; Sketch of Ecclesiastical History, 
etc., Photo-lithographed MSS., vol. viii. p. 1 (No. 

13)- 

That the doctrines revealed through the instru- 
mentality of Emanuel Swedenborg are represented in 
the Sacred Scripture by the Holy City, New Jeru- 



DOCTRINE TWOFOLD. - 197 

salem, descending out of heaven, may be seen from 
Coronis, 18 (No. 11); A. R. 820 (No. 12); H. D. 7 
(No. 27) ; and the superscriptions to T. C. R. 779 and 
781, read in consecutive order (No. 7). 

That Swedenborg declares unequivocally that the 
writings which he published as the Lord's servant are 
not his own, but the Lord's writings, may be seen 
from the following passages: — A. C. 6597 (No. 9); 
Sketch of Ecclesiastical History, etc., p. 1 (No. 10) ; 
5. D. III. Part ii. p. 205 (No. 107). 

That the doctrines of the New Church, finally, 
which were communicated to the world through the 
instrumentality of Swedenborg, are absolute Divine 
Truth, is declared by him in T. C. R. 508 (No. 117), 
where he maintains that " these doctrines are con- 
tinuous truths revealed by the Lord through the 
Word." 

If now we consider these statements in connection 
with what Swedenborg declares in No. 55, viz., that 
the revelation made through him was peculiar, and 
that " this has not been granted to any one since the 
creation, as it has been to him," it becomes our duty 
to determine how all these statements are to be 
reconciled with those made by him in H. D. 254, A. C. 
9424 (Nos. 149, 150), and in other places, where we 
read that " doctrine from the Word is to be made by 
one who is illustrated," and that " those are illustrated, 
and make to themselves doctrine from the Word," 
who are " in the love of truth for the sake of truth, 
and not for the sake of themselves and the world." 
From these passages it would seem to follow as if 
other persons also, provided they be in a state of 



198 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

illustration, may serve as media for the revelation of 
the doctrines of the internal sense to mankind. 

In the first place, then, it must be borne in mind that 
as " the Word of the Lord is a dead letter, until it 
is vivified in the mind of the reader by the Lord " 
(A. C. 1776), so also the doctrines of the internal 
sense, which have been revealed by the Lord at 
His Second Coming through the instrumentality of 
Swedenborg, are " a dead letter," until they are 
"vivified by the Lord " in the minds of the members 
of the Church. 

Doctrine, therefore, can become a power and an 
authority in the Church only in proportion as it is 
established in the minds of the members of the 
Church, or, in other words, in proportion as it is under- 
stood and acknowledged by the members of the 
Church. 

This establishment of doctrine in the minds of men, 
we hold, Swedenborg had in view, where he says, 
" The Word in the letter can be comprehended only 
by means of doctrine which has been made from the 
Word by one who is illustrated" (77. D. 254); and 
again, "Doctrine ought to be collected from the 
Word ; and while it is being collected man must be 
in illustration from the Lord ; and he is in illustration 
when he is in the love of truth for the sake of truth, 
and not for the sake of himself and the world. These 
are they who are illustrated in the Word when they 
read it, and they see the truth, and make to themselves 
doctrine thence " (A . C. 9424). 

We hold that by the Word, from which those who 
are in illustration " make to themselves doctrine," or 






DOCTRINE TWOFOLD. 199 

whence they " collect doctrine," is not meant here the 
mere letter of the Word, which is commonly under- 
stood by the Bible, but that there are meant thereby 
as well the heavenly doctrines of the New Jerusalem, 
which are contained in the theological writings of 
Emanuel Swedenborg, and which are identical with 
the doctrines of the internal sense, yea, which are 
the internal sense of the Word in a form accommo- 
dated to the understanding of men in this world. 

That Swedenborg in speaking of the Word means 
thereby not only the letter of the Word, which is called 
the Bible, but also the doctrine of the internal sense, 
is proved by the following points : — 

First, The letter of the Word is as its body ; the 
spiritual sense as its soul. 

(151.) "The Word is as a Divine Man ; the literal sense is as it were 
its body, and the internal sense as it were its soul. It hence appears 
that the literal sense lives through the internal. It seems as if the 
literal sense vanishes or dies through the internal sense ; but the very 
reverse is true, it does not vanish or die through, but it lives through the 
internal sense " (A. C. 8943). 

(152.) " The spiritual sense lives in the literal sense, as man's spirit 
in his body, and the spiritual sense also in like manner continues to 
live when the literal sense perishes ; wherefore the internal sense may 
be called the soul of the Word" {A. C. 4857). 

(153.) "The internal sense in respect to the literal sense is as the 
internal or celestial and spiritual things with man are in respect to his 
external or natural and corporeal things. His interiors are in the light 
of heaven ; his exteriors in the light of the world. Between the light of 
heaven and the light of the world there is the same difference as between 
the light of day and the shade of night. 

" As man is in this shade, and is not willing to know that light is in 
the truth from the Lord, he cannot believe otherwise than that this 
shade is light ; yea, vice versa , that light is shade ; for he is like an 
owl, which, when it flies about in the shade of night, thinks it is in 



200 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

light : but when it flies in the light of day it supposes that it is in shade. 
For the internal eye, i.e. the understanding by which he sees interiorly, 
is formed with him in precisely the same way, because he has not formed 
it differently. He opens it when he looks downwards, i.e. towards 
worldly and bodily things, and closes it when he looks upward, i.e. 
towards spiritual and celestial things. 

' ' The Word with these is ^similarly constituted ; what appears in its 
literal sense they believe to be in light, what in the internal sense in 
shade. For the Word appears to every one according to his quality ; 
when yet the internal sense in respect to the external is as the light of 
heaven in respect to the light of the world (Xos. 3086, 3108), i.e. as the 
light of day in respect to the light of night. 

"In the internal sense are singulars, myriads of which make one 
particular, which is presented in the literal sense ; or what is the same 
thing, in the internal sense are particulars, myriads of which make one 
general, which is in the literal sense. This general appears to man, but 
not the particulars which are in it, and compose it. And yet the order 
of the particulars appears to man in the general, but according to his 
quality. This order is the holiness by which he is affected " (A. C. 
3438)- 

Secondly, The internal sense is the essential Word of 
God. 

(154.) "The internal sense is the soul of the Word, and is the very 
Divine Truth proceeding from the Lord ; thus it is the Lord Himself" 
[A. C. 9349). 

(155.) "The internal sense is the most essential Word (ipsissimum 
Verbum) in which is the Divine most immediately" [A. C. 3432). 

(156.) "The internal sense is the sanctuarv of the Word" [A. C. 
5398). 

(157.) "The internal sense is the Word itself. The spiritual and 
celestial things of the Word are those treating of the Lord, His kingdom, 
and the Church ; while the things of the literal sense for the most part 
are worldly, corporeal, and earthly things, which can never constitute 
the Word of God " [A. C. 1540). 

(158. ) " The internal sense is the Lord's Word in the heavens ; those 
in the heavens perceive it in that sense. When man is in the truth, i.e. 
in the internal sense, then he can make one with those in heaven as to 



DOCTRINE TWOFOLD. 201 

thought ; although man is in the most general and obscure idea respec- 
tively" {A. C. 2094). 

Thirdly, The Word as to its mere letter is dead ; it 
is the spiritual sense which imparts life to it; see A . C. 
3 (No. 14), and also the following passage : — 

(159.) "To every intelligent man it maybe known that there is an 
internal sense in which is the life of the Word ; which life is not in the 
letter; this without the internal sense is dead" {A. C. 755). 

If now Swedenborg teaches that the internal sense is 
the soul, and the literal sense the body of the Word ; 
and if he further teaches that the internal sense is the 
real Word of God, and that the letter without the 
internal sense is dead, it follows that when he speaks 
of the Word, he means by it not the mere letter or 
the merely literal sense of the Word, but he includes 
therein also the spiritual sense of the Sacred Scripture, 
as this was revealed by the Lord at His Second Com- 
ing in the theological writings which Swedenborg 
wrote and published as the servant of the Lord Jesus 
Christ. And it follows further that when he says that 
" doctrine ought to be collected from the Word," and 
that it may be " collected by those who are in a state 
of illustration," he means thereby that doctrine ought 
to be "made" or "collected" by the men of the 
Church not only from the letter or the literal sense 
of the Word, but also from the doctrine of the internal 
sense as this is contained in the theological writings 
of our Church ; and that in doing so they must be in 
a state of illustration from the Lord. 

That in the Church of the New Jerusalem, to be 
established at the Lord's Second Comino;, doctrine is 



'o; 



202 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

to be collected not from the sense of the letter, but 
from the spiritual sense, is clearly taught by Sweden- 
borg in the following passage : — 

(160.) "Before the Church is fully devastated the interior Word is 
revealed, i.e. according to the spiritual sense ; because then a New 
Church will be instituted, into which those of the former Church are 
invited, and for the New Church interior Divine Truth is revealed, 
which could not be revealed before. The same has taken place now 
as took place at the end of the Jewish Church ; for at its end, which 
was when the Lord came into the world, the Word was interiorly 
opened ; for interior Divine Truths were revealed by the Lord while 
He was in the world, which were to be of service to the New Church 
then about to be established by Him, and which also did such service. 
At the present day, for similar reasons, the interior Word has been 
opened, and Divine Truths of a still more interior nature have been 
thence revealed, which are to be of service to the New Church, which 
will be called the New Jerusalem " {A. E. 948). 

By " being of service to the New Church " is meant, 
that "the interior Divine Truths which have been 
revealed for the New Church," and which are con- 
tained in the theological writings of Emanuel Sweden- 
borg, will be " collected " and " formed into doctrines " 
for the use of the Lord's New Church by those of its 
members who " love the truth for the sake of truth," 
and hence are able to be in a state of illustration from 
the Lord. 

That for the special benefit of those who will be of 
the New Church, which is called the New Jerusalem, 
the internal sense has been discovered, and this 
through the instrumentality of Swedenborg, is further 
taught in the following passage : — 

(161.) " It is given to the men of the New Church, which is called 
the New Jerusalem, to behold the Divine Truths which are in the 
Word, not sensually, i.e. not according to appearances, but spiritually, 






DOCTRINE TWOFOLD. 203 

i.e. according to essences. For this reason the internal sense of the 
Word, which is spiritual, has been discovered, and solely for those who will 
be of that Church. From this sense the Divine Truth appears such as 
it is in its spiritual light, and from this light such as Divine Truth is in 
natural light. Divine Truth is the Word, and those who are of that 
Church are illustrated from the spiritual light of the Word by influx 
from the Lord out of heaven ; on account of their acknowledging the 
Divine in the Lord's human, and because they are in the spiritual affec- 
tion of truth from Him. By these, and by none other, the spiritual light 
is received which flows in constantly from the Lord by heaven with all 

those who read the Word ; hence is their illustration 

" All who are of that Church have the understanding illustrated, by 
virtue whereof they are able to see the truth from the light of truth, 
that is, they are able to see whether a thing be true or not ; and inas- 
much as they thus see the truth, they acknowledge it, and receive it in 
the affection which is of the will, whence truths with them become 
spiritual, and hence the spiritual mind, which is above the natural mind, 
is opened with them ; and being opened, it receives angelic sight, which 
is the sight of truth from its own inherent light" {A. E. 759). 

From the fact that Swedenborg in this passage uses 
the past tense, and says that " the internal sense of 
the Word, which is spiritual, has been discovered? it 
follows that, according to Swedenborg's testimony, 
the Lord once for all revealed the spiritual sense of 
His Holy Word through the instrumentality of 
Emanuel Swedenborg ; and although we learn that 
"those who will be of the New Church will be in a 
state of illustration from the Lord while reading the 
Word," still this illustration, as we further read, 
enables them only " to see the truth from the light 
of truth," i.e. they are able to see whether a thing is 
true or not. This illustration also enables them "to 
collect," or " to make for themselves doctrine," while 
studying the writings of the New Church ; but it does 
not enable them to extract from the literal sense of 



204 A UTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

the Word the doctrine of the internal sense ; for this 
doctrine has been revealed by the Lord Himself at 
His Second Coming, once for all, through the instru- 
mentality of Swedenborg, and concerning this doctrine 
the Lord says in the Book of Revelation (xxii. 18), 
" For I testify unto every one that heareth the words 
of the prophecy of this book, If any one shall add 
unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues 
that are written in this book." 

From the above, when read in conjunction with 
what has been adduced on the subject of illustration 
(pp. 83 to 89), it appears very plainly that there is 
no basis in the writings of the New Church for the 
assertion that the Lord will reveal from the Word new 
truths, or new doctrines, to such members of the Church 
as are in good, or as are in an advanced state of 
regeneration. That the Lord will not reveal any new 
doctrines or truths to those of the New Church who 
are of a celestial genius or disposition, follows from 
the simple consideration that the whole of man- 
kind in Europe and America, among whom the Lord 
is establishing His New Church at the present day, 
are of a spiritual, and no longer of a celestial, genius. 1 
That they are of a spiritual genius, because since the 
days of the flood the will-faculty of mankind has not 
been in a state of integrity, but inclined to the loves 
of self and of the world, appears clearly from the 
following teaching of our Church : — 

(162.) "There are two Churches in general, viz., the celestial and 

1 See S. D. 5518, where we read as follows : " The Africans on our 
globe are of the same genius as the angels of the celestial kingdom ; 
the Europeans, however, are of a spiritual genius." 



DOCTRINE TWOFOLD. 205 

the spiritual. The celestial Church is with the man who can be 
regenerated or become a Church as to his will-part ; and the spiritual 
Church is with the man who can be regenerated only as to his intel- 
lectual part. 

" The Most Ancient Church, which was before the flood, was celestial, 
because the will-part of those with whom it existed was in some in- 
tegrity ; but the Ancient Church, which was after the flood, was spiri- 
tual > because they were in a state of integrity not as to their will, but 
as to their intellectual part. 

" That the understanding, or the intellectual part, is regenerated with 
those who are of the spiritual Church, may appear also from this con- 
sideration, that the man of that Church has no perception of truth from 
good, as is the case with those of the celestial Church, but must first 
learn the truth of faith, and imbue his understanding therewith, and 
thus must learn to know what is good from truth, and after knowing it 
from truth, he may think about it and afterwards will, and finally do it ; 
and then a new will is formed in his intellectual part by the Lord, and 
by this the spiritual man is raised by the Lord into heaven, while evil 
still remains in his will ; but this is then miraculously separated, and 
indeed by a higher power, by which he is withheld from evil and kept 
in good. 

" The man of the celestial Church, however, was regenerated as to 
his will-part, by imbibing from infancy the good of charity, and after 
acquiring the perception of that good, he was led into the perception 
of love to the Lord. All the truths of faith appeared thence in the 
intellectual part as in a mirror. With him the understanding and the 
will made entirely one mind, for they perceived in their understanding 
what was in their will. In this consisted the integrity of the first man, 
by whom the celestial Church is understood" (A. C. 51 13). 

That everything Swedenborg said concerning the 
ancient Church applies also to the succeeding Churches, 
and thus that the Jewish and Christian Churches were 
spiritual, and not celestial Churches, appears from the 
following passages : — 

(163.) " Those who were of the Most Ancient Church did not care 
for these externals [i.e. for such as were in the Ancient Church], because 
they were internal men, and because with them the Lord flowed in by 
an internal way, and [thus] taught them what was good. The varieties 



2 o6 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH 

and distinctions of good with them were in the place of truths, and 
hence they knew what each and everything in the world represented in 
the Lord's kingdom ; for the universal world, or universal nature, is a 
representative theatre of the kingdom of God. 

"But those of the Ancient Church were not internal, but external 
men ; the Lord therefore could not flow in with them by an internal, 
but by an external way, and [thus] teach them what is good, and indeed, 
in the first place, by such things as were representative and significative ; 
and afterwards by the doctrinals of goodness and truth which were 
represented and signified — whence the Christian Church arose. 

"This Church, viz., the Christian Church, in its essence is the 
same as to internal form with the representative Church ; but after the 
Lord came into the world the representatives and significatives of the 
former Church were abrogated, because each and everything repre- 
sented Him, and consequently the things of His kingdom ; for these 
are from Him, and are, so to speak, Himself. 

" Between the Most Ancient and the Christian Churches [and hence 
between the celestial and the spiritual Churches] there is, however, the 
same difference as between the light of the sun by day and the light of 
the moon or of the stars by night ; for seeing goods by an internal or 
prior way is like seeing in the day from the light of the sun, but seeing 
by an external or posterior way is like seeing at night from the light of 
the moon or of the stars " {A. C. 4489). 

Again we read : — 

(164.) "If the man of the Most Ancient Church had read the his- 
torical or prophetical Word, he would, without any previous instruction, 
and without any explanation at all, have seen its internal, and even to 
such an extent, that the celestial and spiritual things of the internal 
sense would have come up at once, and scarcely anything of the literal 
sense : the internal sense would thus have been in clearness, and the 
sense of the letter in obscurity. It would have been like one hearing 
another speak and paying attention only to his meaning, and not to his 
words. 

" But if a man of the Ancient Church had read the Word, he could 
not have seen the internal without previous instruction or explanation ; 
consequently with him the internal sense would have been in obscurity, 
and the literal sense in clearness ; thus it would have been like one 
hearing another speak, and in his thought cleaving to his words, and 
not paying any attention to the sense, which would hence be lost. 



DOCTRINE TWOFOLD. 207 

" But when a man of five Jewish Church reads the Word, he appre- 
hends nothing but the sense of the letter, and does not know, nay, he 
even denies, that there is an internal sense. 

"The same is the case with the man of the Christian Church at the 
present day " {A. C. 4493). 

From all this it appears that the descendants of the 
men of the Christian Church, among whom the New 
Jerusalem Church is being established at the present 
day, are of a spiritual, and not of a celestial, genius ; 
that they are, therefore, in a state of integrity as to 
their understanding, but not as to their will, and that 
hence they have to be taught the whole of the doc- 
trine of the Church, and thus everything pertaining to 
an interior understanding of the Word, by a posterior 
way or by study from without, and that they are not 
in a condition to be " taught of God," like the men of 
the Most Ancient or celestial Church. 

We readily admit that in the spiritual Church also 
there are such as are relatively of a celestial disposi- 
tion ; even as we read that in each heaven, and thus 
also in the second or spiritual heaven, there are in- 
ternal and external angels, the former being like the 
will-faculty, and thus relatively of a celestial disposi- 
tion, and the latter being like the intellectual faculty, 
and thus relatively of a spiritual disposition (see 
H. H. 32). And again we read, "There are three 
heavens ; the first is the abode of good spirits, the 
second of angelic spirits, and the third of angels, all 
of whom, as well the spirits as the angelic spirits and 
angels, are distinguished into two orders, celestial 
and spiritual" (A. C. 459). 

There are hence even in the spiritual Church some 



208 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

who are relatively of a celestial, and others who are 
relatively of a spiritual, genius ; yet both the former 
and the latter, at the present day, as to their will- 
faculty are instinct with evil, and hence have lost the 
capacity of being enlightened by the Lord from 
within. In this sense is to be understood what Swe- 
denborg says (77. H. 333) respecting infants in heaven, 
that " some are of the genius by which the spiritual 
angels are distinguished, and some of the genius by 
which the celestial angels are distinguished." 

We are likewise aware that Swedenborg in several 
places declares that the Church of the New Jerusalem 
will not only be of a spiritual, but also of a celestial 
character. So he says (A. R. 43), that " in that 
Church there will also be truths of a celestial origin," 
and (A. R. 350), that " celestial love, which is love to 
the Lord, will be with all who will be in the Lord's 
New Heaven and New Church;" and (A. R. 362), 
that " in the Lord's New Heaven and New Church 
there will only be such as are celestial and spiritual." 
Still all these passages do not remove the fact that all 
descendants of Christian parents as to their will-parts 
are instinct with hereditary evil, and hence are no 
longer in a state of integrity as to their wills, where- 
fore they are incapable of being taught the truth by 
the Lord from within. For this very reason also the 
Lord teaches them Divine Truth by an external 
channel, even by the written Word of God ; while 
with those who are not only relatively, but absolutely of 
a celestial genius, as was the case with the men of the 
Most Ancient Church, the Word was written on their 
hearts, i.e. they were taught by the Lord by revela- 



DOCTRINE TWOFOLD. 209 

tions from within. The very fact therefore that New j 
Churchmen at the present day need for their instruc- 
tion the written Word of God, proves absolutely that 
they are not of a celestial, but of a spiritual genius, 
and hence have to be taught Divine Truth by instruc- \ 
tion from without. 

Again, we believe that the Church of the New 
Jerusalem will be the crown of all preceding Churches, 
and hence will bear not only a spiritual, but also a 
celestial character. But this celestial character can 
only be attained after it has for ages cultivated a 
spiritual character ; even as the seventh day of rest, by 
which is represented the celestial state, can only be 
reached after Christians of the New Dispensation 
have successfully passed through their six days of 
labour, and have, by the truths of the Word, spiri- 
tually understood, entirely overcome not only their 
actual, but also their hereditary evils. 

The aim of all the members of the New Church 
should be to reach the glorious day of rest, and thus 
to acquire a celestial character ; yet very few will be 
able to reach that state in the natural world, especially 
during the first ages of the New Church, for that 
Church, as we are taught, " in the beginning will be 
external " {A. E. 403), and instead of being in spiritual 
or celestial good, it will be merely in natural good 
(see A. C. 4231). But as to the statement that 
" celestial love, which is represented by Judah, will 
be with all in the Lord's New Heaven and New 
Church" (A. R. 350), this must needs be the case, 
because all love, as it penetrates from the Lord to 
those in the New Heaven and the New Church, 

O 



210 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

passes through the heaven represented by Judah, 
and puts on its nature. 

From these considerations it follows that, on the 
strength of the passages quoted in Nos. 136 and 137, 
we are by no means justified in assuming that infallible 
doctrine for the government of the Lord's New Church 
is contained not only in the theological writings of 
Emanuel Swedenborg, but may be deduced also from 
the letter of the Word by such " as are in good," or in 
an advanced state of regeneration, and as partake 
more or less of a celestial disposition. 

Let us direct our attention now to the establishment 
of doctrine in the minds of men. 

Doctrine which is revealed from the Lord out of 
heaven, when received by the men of the Church, first 
enters into their minds as a sensuous impression, then 
it becomes a scientific or a matter of knowledge, and, 
finally, as they progress in the path of regeneration, 
it becomes doctrine with them. 

This progress of doctrine in human minds is de- 
scribed in the writings of the New Church as follows : — 

(165.) " The first truths with man are sensuous, the second scientific, 
and the third doctrinal. These latter truths are founded on scientific 
truths ; for man cannot have, nor retain, any idea, notion, or conception 
of them except from scientifics ; scientific truths, however, are founded 
on sensuous truths ; for scientifics cannot be comprehended by man 
without these sensuous truths. Before a man, therefore, is of adult age, 
and before he is by sensuous and scientific in doctrinal truths, he cannot 
be regenerated ; for he cannot be confirmed in the truth of doctrinals 
except by ideas drawn from scientifics and the things of the senses ; since 
nothing ever exists with man in his thoughts, even with regard to the 
most hidden thing of faith, which has not some natural and sensuous 
idea in it, although man for the most part is ignorant of it " [A. C. 
3310). " Scientifics and doctrinals, or matters of knowledge and of 



DOCTRINE TWOFOLD. 211 

doctrine, are distinct from each other in this, that doctrinals are derived 
from scientifics ; the former having respect to use, and being procured 
by reflection from scientifics " (A. C. 3052). 

If we consult the writings of our Church still more 
closely, we find that the things that enter by the 
senses, or sensuous impressions, are stored up in the 
corporeal memory, and that man thence concludes 
respecting the scientifics which repose in the natural 
mind (see A. C. 5774, 4038, 3020); but concerning 
the doctrinals, or the matters of doctrine, which are 
" procured from scientifics by reflection," we learn that 
they " have respect to rational things ; because the 
rational mind receives and acknowledges them " (A. C. 

3365)- 

Yet doctrinals, or matters of doctrine, are derived 
from scientifics not simply by a process of reflection, 
as appears clearly from the following statement : — 

(166.) "Doctrinals are conclusions from scientifics ; but they are not 
doctrinals before they are believed [i.e. before they become matters of 
faith] ; until then they are merely scientifics or matters of knowledge " 

{A. a 3057). 

How doctrinals become matters of faith, and thus 
" are believed " by man, is clearly taught in what 
follows :— 

(167.) "By the scientifics of the Church are meant all the knowledges 
of what is true and good, before these knowledges are conjoined with 
the interior man, or by the interior man with heaven, and thus by 
heaven with the Lord. 

" The doctrinals of the Church are mere scientifics, until the man 
sees from the Word whether they are true, and thence appropriates 
them to himself" (A. C. 5402). 

By " the doctrinals of the Church 



212 AUTHORITY IN THE NEV/ CHURCH. 

here the doctrine which descends from God out of 
heaven ; but there is meant thereby the doctrine 
which the men, and especially the leaders of the 
Church, form to themselves by studying the truth 
revealed from God out of heaven. 

Doctrine always enters into the mind first in the 
form in which it is received and taught by the teachers 
and doctors of the Church. And this doctrine the 
members of the Church must afterwards examine in 
the light of the Word of God, in order to see whether 
it is true or false, and that they may see doctrine, not 
from others but from themselves, in the light of the 
Word of God. 

This is explained more minutely in what follows : — 

(i68») "There are two ways of procuring the truths of faith — by 
doctrinals [from others] and by the Word. 

' ' When a man procures them to himself only by doctrinals, he lends 
faith to those who have drawn them from the Word, and he confirms 
them with himself to be true because others have said so ; thus he does 
not believe them from his own faith, but from the faith of others. 
But when he procures them to himself from the Word, and hence con- 
firms them with himself to be true, he then believes them because they 
are from the Divine, thus from a faith derived from the Divine." We 
read further : — " Every one within the Church first procures to himself 
the truths which are of faith from doctrinals [and thus from others], 
and he ought to procure them thus; for he does not yet possess the 
judgment requisite for seeing them from the Word. In this case, how- 
ever, they are simply scientifics with him. ' But, if he is able to view 
them from his own judgment, and if then he does not consult the Word 
to see whether they are true, they remain with him as scientifics. But 
when he consults the Word from the affection and the end of knowing 
truths, and when he finds them, he procures the things of faith from 
a genuine fountain, and then they are appropriated to him from the 
Divine " (A. C. 5402). 

On the same subject we read further : — 



DOCTRINE TWOFOLD. 213 

(169.) "At first the doctrinals of the Church are to be learned, and 
then an examination must be made from the Word, as to whether they 
are true ; since they are not true because the leaders of the Church have 
said so, and their followers affirm it ; for in this case the doctrinals of 
all churches and religions might be declared true simply from their soil 
and birthplace, and there would thus be truths not only of the Papists 
and Quakers, but also of the Jews and Mahometans, because their 
leaders have declared them to be so, and their followers affirm it. Whence 
it follows that the Word ought to be searched, and examination made 
therein as to whether doctrinals are true ; when this is done from the 
affection of truth, man is illustrated by the Lord, so that, not knowing 
whence, he notices what is true, and is confirmed therein according to 
the good in which he is " {A. C. 6047). 

Again we read : — 

(170.) " Those who are in the affection of truth for the sake of truth 
and for the sake of life, consequently for the sake of the Lord's kingdom, 
have indeed faith in the doctrinals of the Church ; but they still examine 
the Word for the sake of truth alone, and hence is their faith and con- 
science. If any one tells them that they ought to remain in the 
doctrinals of the church in which they were born, they think that if 
they had been born in Judaism, Socinianism, Quakerism, Christian 
Gentilism, or even outside the Church, the same thing would still have 
been said by those who are there ; they remember also that it is said 
everywhere, Here is the Church, here is the Church, here are truths 
and nowhere else ; and as such is the case, they think that the Word 
ought to be examined with a devout prayer to the Lord for illustration " 
(A. C. 5432). 

The broad question arises here, What is meant by 
the statement that " the doctrinals of the Church in 
which any one is born, or to which he belongs, ought 
to be examined by him in the light of the Word, 
in order to see whether they are true " ? 

We have already seen (pp. 199 to 201) that when 
Swedenborg speaks of the Word of God, he means 
thereby not only its letter or its literal sense, but also 



214 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

its spiritual sense. If therefore the doctrines of a 
Church which are preached from its pulpits are exclu- 
sively those of the letter or of the literal sense of the 
Word, the members of that Church ought to examine 
the doctrinals of their Church in the light of the literal 
sense of the Word. This applies to the members of 
the various Churches into which the first Christian 
Church has, in course of time, been divided. But if 
the doctrinals formulated and preached by a Church 
are derived not only from the general teachings of 
the literal sense, but also from the particular teachings 
of the internal sense, as is the case with the New 
Jerusalem Church, in that case the members of that 
Church have to examine the doctrinals adopted by 
their General Conferences and Conventions, and those 
which they hear preached from its pulpits, in the light 
of the doctrines of the internal sense, which have 
been revealed by the Lord out of heaven for the 
benefit of that Church (see No. 160). 

That the Word may be explored in this twofold 
sense, is clearly taught in the following passage : — 

(171.) "Among the priests and the men of the Church there are 
some who teach and learn the truths of the Church from the literal sense 
of the Word, and there are others who teach and learn them from the 
doctrine which is drawn from the Word, and which is called the doctrine 
of the faith of the Church. The latter differ from the former very 
much in perception, but cannot be distinguished by the common people, 
because both speak in a similar manner from the Word. But those 
who teach and learn from the literal sense of the Word, without any 
regulating doctrine of the Church, are able to comprehend only those 
things which belong to the natural or external man ; while those who 
teach and learn from the true doctrine, which is from the Word, under- 
stand also those things which belong to the spiritual or internal man ; 






DOCTRINE TWOFOLD. 215 

because the Word in the external or literal sense is natural, but in the 
internal sense spiritual " {A. C. 9025). 

In addition to those who would derive infallible 
doctrine from the letter of the Word by virtue of 
their goodness or their celestial state, there are others 
who are under the impression that from their know- 
ledge of correspondences they are able to see the 
spiritual sense of the Word without the help of the 
doctrines of the New Church. That these commence 
at the wrong end, is most clearly shown in the follow- 
ing passage : — 

(172.) " No one can see the spiritual sense except from the doctrine 
of genuine truth. From this the spiritual sense may be seen when 
there is some knowledge of correspondences. But he who is in the 
doctrine of what is false cannot see anything of the spiritual sense. He 
draws and bends the correspondences which he knows towards the 
falsities of his doctrine ; wherefore he can falsify the Word still more. 

" The truly spiritual sense of the Word is therefore from the Lord 
alone ; and this is the reason why no one in the natural or in the 
spiritual world is allowed to investigate the spiritual sense of the Word 
from the sense of its letter, unless he be thoroughly in the doctrine of 
Divine Truth, and in illustration from the Lord. Wherefore the spiri- 
tual sense may be seen from the doctrine of Divine Truth confirmed 
from the sense of the letter of the Word. But doctrine can never be 
seen first from the spiritual sense. 

"He thinks what is false who says with himself: I know many 
correspondences, I may know the true doctrine of the Divine Word ; 
the spiritual sense will teach it to me. This cannot be done. But, as 
said above, let him say : I know the doctrine of Divine Truth ; now I 
may know the spiritual sense, provided I know correspondences. Yet 
even then he must be in illustration from the Lord ; because the spiri- 
tual sense is the very Divine Truth in its light, and is understood by 
the glory, while the sense of the letter of the Word is understood by 
cloud " {De Verbo, posthumous ; contained in S. D. vii. Appendix I. 
p. 104 ; see also T. C. R. 208). 

From this it follows that no one is able " to make 



216 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

to himself doctrine from theWord," or, in other words, 
to have the doctrine of the Word of God established 
in his mind, unless he has first acquired a thorough 
knowledge of the doctrine of Divine Truth. This 
doctrine, however, must afterwards be confirmed in 
his mind by the literal sense of the Word, according 
to this teaching : — 

(173.) "All the power of Divine Truth is contained in the sense of 
the letter of the Word ; in the spiritual sense without the sense of the 
letter there is no power ; but there is in the sense of the letter in which 
is the spiritual sense " {De Verbo, posthumous ; contained in S. D. vii. 
Appendix II. p. 74). 

And again we read : — 

(174.) " Every doctrine of the Church must be extracted from the 
literal sense of the Word and be confirmed by it, and not by the 
purely spiritual sense ; for by this sense alone no conjunction is given 
with heaven, and by heaven with the Lord, but by the sense of the 
letter " {De Verbo, posthumous ; contained in S. D. vii. Appendix II. 
Chapter V.) 

This throws light on sermons, and the mode in 
which they ought to be prepared by ministers. In 
sermons the doctrines of the internal sense should 
be taught from the letter of the Word and be con- 
firmed by it ; and as the Lord is present in the letter 
of the Word, and not in the purely spiritual sense 
independently of the letter, therefore when the doc- 
trines of the internal sense are preached from the 
letter of the Word, the Lord can be present with the 
hearers and illustrate their minds, and hence carry a 
much stronger conviction to their understandings. 

With regard to the composition of sermons, how- 
ever, we learn that the first thing a minister must do 
is to collect from the writings of our Church "the 



DOCTRINE TWOFOLD. 217 

doctrine of Divine Truth ; " i.e. instead of attempting 
to explain a text of Scripture from his own intelli- 
gence, or from an imaginary state of perception, he 
must go to the writings of our Church, and collect 
thence everything that is taught there respecting his 
text. After he is thus made acquainted with " the 
doctrine of Divine Truth," he is able to see the 
spiritual sense of his text "provided he knows the 
correspondences" which are employed therein, and 
provided "he is in a state of illustration from the 
Lord ; " and the only way by which he can come into 
a state of illustration from the Lord, is by humbling 
himself before Him, and imploring Him so to illustrate 
his thoughts that he may lead the minds of his hearers 
by truth to good (see H. D. 315). But concerning 
the perception which the Lord grants to those minis- 
ters of His Church who have been introduced into 
their office by the gate of ordination (see T. C. R. 146), 
we learn that it is not according to their state of good- 
ness, but " according to the state of their minds as 
formed by doctrinals " {Ibid. 155); and we read fur- 
ther, that " where these doctrinals are true the percep- 
tion is rendered clear by the light of illustration " 
{Ibid.) And in conclusion, we read, " Thus illustration, 
which is from the Lord, is turned into various kinds 
of light and heat, with every one according to the con- 
dition of his mind " {Ibid.) 



CHAPTER X. 

THE GENUINE USE OF REASON IN MATTERS OF 
THE CHURCH. 

THERE are some New Churchmen who accept 
the theological writings of Swedenborg as 
authoritative, but who say they are free and open 
to all in the Church, so that every one is able to 
collect doctrine thence for himself. A consequently is 
able to collect doctrine thence as well as B ; and the 
doctrine that A collects is just as true as that which 
is collected by B and C ; but how, they say, can we 
know that the doctrine collected by A, which he claims 
to be the doctrine of the Church, is really true ? 

This reasoning proceeds on an assumption that 
the doctrines contained in Swedenborg's theological 
writings, or some of them, are not true ; for truth is 
non-contradictory, and as soon as we declare that 
contradictory doctrines may be derived from Sweden- 
borg's writings, we at the same time declare that 
God's truth is not there. 

But how is it, it may be asked, that different per- 
sons derive different doctrines from these writings ? 
The reason is either that they do not go to them in a 
free and unprejudiced state of mind, but seek instead 
to confirm their own notions from them ; or, that they 



GENUINE USE OF REASON. 219 

draw their conclusions, and hence form their doc- 
trines, from a mere cursory reading of these writings. 

We must allow the writings of the Church to ex- 
plain themselves, and then we shall never find any 
contradictions therein. 

The case with doctrine, which strikes the eyes of 
the understanding, is exactly the same as with the 
objects which strike the eyes of our bodies. As 
doctrine is received differently, according to the con- 
ditions of men's understandings, so also the natural 
objects in this world appear differently to every in- 
dividual ; for it is a common saying that no two eyes 
see alike. So, for instance, when a horse is exhibited 
to a certain number of individuals, each person re- 
ceives a different impression of it in his memory, 
according as he directs his attention to particular 
parts of the horse. And yet they all agree that the 
object which they see is a horse, and not a cow, or 
some other animal. 

Exactly the same is it with the doctrinal subjects 
of the writings of the New Church which are sub- 
mitted to the gaze of the understanding. Some 
persons, according to the condition of their under- 
standings, are able to obtain a clear and definite 
impression of a certain doctrine, while others can 
obtain from it merely a general or obscure idea. Yet 
whether that idea be clear or obscure, definite or 
general, the ideas produced by that doctrine on an 
unbiassed understanding will always be identical ; just 
as a number of persons looking at a horse will always 
agree that they see a horse, and not a cow or a 
dog. 



220 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

It is different at night-time ; then it is possible that 
the same object at a distance may appear to one 
person as a horse, to another as a cow, and to a third 
person as a donkey. So likewise when the sight of 
the understanding is obscured either by some precon- 
ceived notions or some state of ignorance, or a per- 
verted state of the will, then also a doctrinal subject 
which is presented before the understanding may 
make contradictory impressions on various persons. 
The contradiction in that case, however, is not in the 
doctrine or in the doctrinal treatises, but it is in the 
persons themselves. 

This brings us to the genuine use of reason in mat- 
ters of the Church or of doctrine. And here we must 
first of all lay it down as a general principle of our 
Church that the Lord desires man not only to think 
and speak, but also to reason on Divine things, so 
that he may see whether a thing is so or not. This 
principle is clearly enunciated in the following pas- 
sage : — 

(175.) "The angels of the third heaven never reason on Divine 
things, whether a thing be so or not ; but they see in themselves from 
the Lord that it is so or that it is not so. Reasoning concerning 
Divine things whether they are so or not is due to this circumstance, 
that the person who reasons does not see them from the Lord, but 
desires to see them from himself; and what a man sees from himself is 
evil. But the Lord, nevertheless, desires man not only to think and 
speak, but also to reason concerning Divine things, so that he may see 
whether a thing is so or not. And, provided a man's end is to see the 
truth, this thought, speech, and reasoning may be said to be from the 
Lord with man ; they are from man, however, until he sees and 
acknowledges the truth ; and meanwhile the only thing which he has 
from the Lord is the ability of thinking, speaking, and reasoning ; for 
this he is able to do by virtue of the two faculties, which are called 
freedom and rationality, and which man has from the Lord alone" 
(Z>. P. 219). 



GENUINE USE OF REASON. 221 

Again we read : — " By rationality is understood the faculty of under- 
standing truths, and hence falsities, and goods, and hence evils " {D. L. 
W. 264). 

Reason, therefore, enables a man to distinguish 
between truth and falsity, and hence to discover how 
much in a doctrinal presentation is true, and how 
much false. Reason, however, is not able to do 
this from its own inherent light; for reason, or the 
human rational, as we have shown (Chapter VIII. , Nos. 
134 to 136), is totally unable of itself to decide as to 
the spuriousness or genuineness of any teaching of the 
Church ; in order to do so it must be enlightened by 
true doctrine drawn from the Word of God. It needs, 
therefore, a criterion or standard of the truth for its 
guidance. 

Such a criterion of the truth all those have who 
believe in the Divinity and authority of the doctrines of 
the internal sense, and who on all questions touching the 
internal and external worship of the Church, and on 
all questions of doctrine, go to the theological writings 
of Emanuel Swedenborg for light and for help ; for 
in going there they go to the Lord Jesus Christ Him- 
self, as He has revealed Himself to mankind at His 
Second Coming. 

Those, on the other hand, who deny the Divinity 
of the contents of these writings have no criterion of 
the truth at all ; for they are obliged to decide all 
questions of doctrine either by the fitful and uncertain 
light of their own finite reason, or to appeal to the 
literal sense of Scripture, concerning which we read 
that " it may be bent in various directions, and ex- 
plained according to the comprehension" (T. C. R. 



222 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

260), and that " an immense number of heresies arise 
from the sense of the letter without the internal sense, 
or without the genuine doctrine of the Word " (H. D. 
262 ; compare also Nos. 131, 132, and 133, in Chapter 

VIIL). 

By declaring, however, the contents of Swedenborg's 
theological writings to be the criterion and standard 
of truth in the New Church, and by maintaining that 
human reason must be enlightened by true doctrine 
drawn from the Word of God, in order to enable 
it to distinguish between a spurious and a genuine 
teaching of the truth, we are far from denying the 
true position assigned to reason in the doctrines of 
the New Church ; yea, we hold that it is utterly im- 
possible for man to make any progress in spiritual 
life if he neglect the proper use of this heavenly gift. 
We read : — 

(176.) " Nothing can enter into a man's understanding without ideas 
from such scientifics as he has acquired from infancy. Man is alto- 
gether ignorant of the fact that every truth of the Church which is said 
to be of faith, is founded upon his scientifics, and that he comprehends 
it, keeps it in the memory, and calls it forth thence by means of ideas 
formed in him from scientifics" {A. C. 5510). 

Again : — 

(177.) " Man cannot receive anything unless he be able to have 
some idea respecting it from his rational. This may appear from the 
ideas which man revolves in his mind respecting Divine arcana ; for 
there always clings to them some idea from worldly things, or from 
things analogous to worldly things, by which these things are retained 
in the memory, and by which they are reproduced in thoughts, since 
man cannot think at all without ideas derived from worldly things " 
{A. C. 2520). 

Further: — "When reflection is wanting nothing enters into the 
memory, as is well known. Suppose the human eye should take in 
thousands and thousands of objects, still the memory does not retain any 



GENUINE USE OF REASON. 223 

of these objects upon which man has not exercised his external reflec- 
tion. In a similar manner also, when he thinks about that on which 
he has reflected, he remembers it. In short, nothing remains in man 
without reflection " {S. D. 2593). 

It follows hence that man's thought, and hence his 
reason, which enables him to think and to reflect, 
must be actively engaged in order that any truth 
belonging to faith may be received in his mind ; yea, 
we learn that unless he form to himself some idea 
respecting these truths from the things stored up in 
his memory, and from his rational, he cannot retain 
and reproduce these truths. Moreover, man must 
exercise his own thought on these subjects, and not 
receive his ideas blindly from others, or else these 
truths remain in the mere threshold of his mind, as 
appears plainly from No. 127, and also from the fol- 
lowing passage which we have partly quoted at the 
beginning of Chapter VIII. : — 

(178.) " Those of the spiritual Church desire that the things of faith 
should be believed simply without any intuition from the rational, not 
knowing that nothing, not even the most hidden thing of faith, can be 
seized by any man without some rational, yea, even natural idea, 
although he does not know the quality of this idea {A. C. 3310). They 
can, indeed, protect themselves thereby against those who reason 
respecting each and everything from a negative principle as to whether 
it is so. But to those who are in an affirmative principle respecting the 
Word, viz., that it is to be believed, such a position is injurious. For 
thus they may deprive every one of the freedom of thought, and may 
bind his conscience even to the most egregious heresy, thus ruling over 
a man's internal and external " {A. C. 3394). 

We see, therefore, that the writings of the New 

Church are totally opposed to a blind, unreasoning 

reception of the truth, and that, while admitting a 

dogmatic assertion of the truth to be of use as a 



224 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

defensive means against those who are of a negative 
spirit, it declares that such a course is positively 
injurious in the case of those who are of an affirmative 
disposition. In order that a truth may remain in the 
mind, and especially that it may be raised into the 
interior regions of the rational mind, man must 
exercise his own thought upon it, and must in parti- 
cular define each truth clearly in respect to all 
opposing falsities, so as not to be carried away by a 
specious and insinuating course of reasoning. It is 
necessary also that a man's conviction of a truth 
should be the result of slow and sure growth, and that 
during its establishment in his mind it should be care- 
fully considered on all sides. This is clearly taught 
in the following passage : — 

(179.) "It is according to the laws of Divine order that no one 
should be persuaded of the truth in a moment, i.e. that a truth ought 
not to be so confirmed in a moment that no doubt remains. For a 
truth which is impressed in this manner becomes a persuasive truth, 
which bears no extension, and does not yield in any respect. When, 
therefore, in the other world, some truth is presented before good 
spirits by living experience, there is at once something opposite 
presented which causes a doubt. Thus an opportunity is given to them 
of thinking and reflecting whether this is so, and of collecting reasons, 
and hence of introducing this truth into their minds in a rational 
manner. Thus there is caused an extension of spiritual sight, in respect 
to this truth, even to its opposites " {A. C. 7298). 

This shows the use of discussions on doctrinal sub- 
jects ; only the discussions must be carried on in an 
affirmative spirit, and objections ought not to be 
raised from the mere love of debate and controversy, 
but from the love of seeing the truth. Controversy 
closes the way to wisdom and intelligence, as appears 
plainly from the following passage : — 









GENUINE USE OF REASON. 225 

(180.) "As long as any one remains in a state of controversy, and 
asks whether a thing exists, or whether it is so, he can never make any 
progress in wisdom. For in the very thing which is controverted are 
innumerable things which can never be seen, so long as they are not ac- 
knowledged, because all things in general and particular relating thereto 
are ignored. Modern erudition scarcely proceeds any further than to 
the limits of whether a thing exists, or whether it is so, hence also they 
[i.e. those cultivating it] are excluded from the intelligence of truth. 
So he who simply discusses whether there is an internal sense of the 
"Word can never see the innumerable, nay, the indefinite things which are 
in the internal sense. And what is wonderful, those who are such con- 
sider themselves wiser than others, and wiser on this account because 
they can discuss better whether a thing is so, and confirm better that it 
is not so. When yet the simple, who are in good, and whom they 
despise, without strife and controversy can perceive at once that a thing 
is so, and also what is its quality. They have common sense by which 
to perceive truth, but the others have extinguished that sense by such 
things as they were desirous previously to discuss " {A. C. 3428). 

The teaching contained in Nos. 175 to 179 prove 
conclusively that the writings of the New Church are 
averse to dogmatism, and that they totally reject the 
dogma that " the understanding is under the obedience 
of faith." Yet the writings of the New Church are 
not on that account opposed to the acknowledgment 
of an authority in the New Church, by which the 
reason of its members ought to be governed and 
directed ; yea, they insist most strongly that the 
members of the New Church ought to accept these 
doctrines because " they are continuous truths revealed 
from the Lord by the Word," and that they ought to 
limit the exercise of their reason to a " confirmation " 
of these doctrines " by the Word " and " by rational 
things " (see No. 130). 

From the fact, therefore, that, according to No. 
176, "every truth of the Church is founded on 

P 



226 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

scientifics, and that it is comprehended and kept in 
the memory by ideas formed from scientifics," it does 
not follow that this truth is derived from scientifics, 
or is the product of rational thought, and by means 
of this thought is drawn from the scientifics of 
nature. 

Again, from the fact that, according to No. 177, 
" man cannot think at all without ideas derived from 
worldly things," and that " such ideas continually 
cling to his ideas respecting Divine arcana," it does 
not follow that worldly ideas contribute in the least 
towards the generation of spiritual truths, but only 
that man's ideas of spiritual things are confirmed and 
clothed by natural scientifics, or by ideas derived 
from worldly things, while the spiritual ideas or the 
spiritual truths themselves come to him only by 
revelation. 

Nevertheless, it does appear as if some of the state- 
ments quoted from Swedenborg's theological writings 
inChapterVIII. did conflict with what has been quoted 
from these writings in the present Chapter. So we 
read in No. 128: " Doctrine becomes nullified in 
proportion to the human, i.e. to the sensual, scientific, 
and rational from which it is believed to be so ; but 
in proportion as doctrine is believed without these in 
the same proportion it lives ; " and again, in No. 129, 
" Intellectual truth does not appear, i.e. is not acknow- 
ledged, as long as man reasons concerning the very 
truths from sensual and scientific things ; only when 
man believes from a simple heart that a thing is true, 
because the Lord has said so, the shades of fallacies 
are dispersed with him, and it no longer matters to 






GENUINE USE OF REASON. 227 

him whether he comprehends a thing or not ; " while 
it is said in No. 177, " Man cannot receive anything 
unless he be able to have some idea respecting it from 
his rational ; " and in No. 178, " Nothing, not even the 
most hidden thing of faith, can be seized by any man 
without some rational, yea, even natural idea ; to 
those who are in an affirmative principle it is even 
injurious to hold that the things of faith are to 
be believed simply, without any intuition from the 
rational ; for thus every one may be deprived of his 
freedom of thought, and his conscience may be bound 
even to the most egregious heresy ; and thus both his 
internal and external may be ruled over." 

In the former of these passages, it is said that 
" everything sensual, scientific, and rational, must be 
removed from doctrine that it may live," and " in- 
tellectual truth appears to man only when he believes 
from a simple heart that a thing is true because the 
Lord has said so ; " and in the others it is said that 
" nothing, not even the most hidden thing of faith, can 
be seized by any man without some rational, yea, even 
natural idea." 

These two apparently contradictory teachings are 
perfectly reconciled by the following passage : — 

(181.) " It was perceived that knowledges of faith must at first be 
confirmed by sensuous and natural truths ; for man cannot believe any- 
thing without confirmation. After these knowledges, however, are con- 
firmed, man is gifted by the Lord with conscience, so that he may 
believe without confirmations. He then rejects all reasonings ; this is 
the angelic sphere in which evil spirits cannot be. As long as man, 
however, is in the state of confirmation about these things, and as Jong 
as he reasons concerning them, in order to convince others of the 
truths, such spirits are able to be present. It is almost the same with 



228 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

him who is in principles, as he rejects all reasonings against principles, 
and is even indignant when any one disputes them " (S. D. 3977). 

Here we see that the latter passages, or Nos. 177 
and 178, have reference to man in the beginning of 
reformation and regeneration, when it is impossible 
for him " to believe anything without confirmation by 
sensuous and natural truths ; " but that the former 
passages, or Nos. 128 and 129, relate to a more 
advanced state of regeneration, when conscience is 
established in him, and he sees the truth from the 
Lord without confirmation. 

We see also that the first state is a step to the 
second ; but that in order to reach the second state it 
is absolutely necessary for the man of the Church to 
stop reasoning as to whether Divine Truths be true or 
false ; that, therefore, from the very first he must 
struggle against the desire to raise objections against 
Divine Truth, and must strive to receive its teachings 
in an affirmative state of mind. Then also he will 
have a criterion and standard of the truth by which he 
will be enabled to judge of the truth or falsity of the 
doctrinal teachings of the teachers and leaders of the 
Church ; and in time, if he receive the doctrines of 
j the -Church not only in the understanding, but also in 
■ the will, he will be gifted by the Lord with con- 
; science, and be able to see the truth not from himself, 
but from the Lord, and hence not in natural, but in 
spiritual light. 

The true position of reason in the New Church is 
not therefore to examine the revealed doctrines of 
the internal sense in the light of rational, scientific, 
and sensuous things with a view of testing their truth ; 



GENUINE USE OF REASON. 229 

but it consists in starting with these doctrines as true, 
and in confirming them by rational, scientific, and 
sensuous things ; it consists also in looking upon these 
doctrines as a criterion of the truth, and by comparison 
therewith in judging of the falsity or reality of the 
doctrines advanced by the teachers and other intelli- 
gent members of the Church. 

Whenever the reason of the men of the Church 
entertains any doubt respecting the doctrines of the 
Church, it transgresses its limits ; for, though it is 
fully justified in questioning and examining in the 
light of the doctrines of the New Church all the 
conclusions drawn from these doctrines by the 
men composing the Church, it is not justified in 
questioning and judging of the truth of these doc- 
trines themselves. This is not done even by those 
who are in a state of illustration from the Lord ; for 
we read concerning them, " The illustrated intellectual 
[faculty] discerns between apparent and real truths, 
especially between falsities and truths, but it does 
not judge of the truths themselves in themselves " 
(A. C. 7233)- 

The first duty of a New Churchman, therefore, in 
respect to the use of his reason in matters concerning \ 
the Lord and His kingdom, and thus in all matters 
concerning spiritual subjects, is to acknowledge the 
Divinity of the doctrines contained in, and derived 
from, the Word of God, and, consequently, the 
Divinity of the doctrines of the New Church which 
are " continuous truths revealed from the Lord by the ) 
Word " (see No. 1 30). And by acknowledging the 
Divinity of these doctrines is meant, that he must look 



230 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

upon them as the criterion or standard of the truth in 
the New Church which must never be questioned, but 
confirmed by rational, scientific, and sensual things. 
That such is the teaching of the doctrines of the New 
Church, and hence the teaching of Swedenborg, has 
been proved throughout the whole of Chapter VIII., 
especially in Nos. 127, 129, 130, 137, 138, 140, 141, 
142, 145 ; in addition to these passages we now quote 
the following : — 

(182.) "Those who are in the faith of charity do not reason respect- 
ing the truths of faith, but declare a thing to be so, and also confirm it, 
as much as they are able, by the sensual and scientific, and also by the 
analytical, things of reason. As soon, however, as anything obscure 
occurs which they do not perceive, they reject it, and never allow it to 
create doubt in them, saying that there are very few things which they 
are able to comprehend, wherefore they declare it to be a mark of 
insanity to say that a thing is not true because they do not understand 
it. These are in charity. 

"Those, however, who are not in the faith of charity are only 
desirous of reasoning whether a thing be so, and they desire to know how 
it is, saying that unless they know how a thing is they cannot believe 
that it is so. From this circumstance alone it is known that they are not 
in faith, and this, moreover, is an indication that they not only entertain 
doubts on everything, but also that they are in denial at heart. When 
they are instructed how a thing is, they still cling to their doubt, and 
raise all scruples against it, and never rest to eternity. Those who are 
in this doubting principle heap therefore errors upon errors. These 
are called drunken, and filled with strong drink in the Word " (A. C. 
1072). 

Nevertheless there are many in the world who 
cannot see truths independently of scientifics, and 
who need these scientifics to strengthen their faith ; 
concerning these we read : — 

(183.) "By Zebulon are not understood those who do not believe 
unless scientific and sensual things dictate. Those who start with 



GENUINE USE OF REASON. 231 

a negative state never believe, because a negative principle reigns 
universally with them, and when it reigns universally, negative scientifics, 
and not such as confirm, are collected. Those which confirm are 
thrown towards the side, and are explained so as to favour the negative 
scientifics, and in this manner the negative principle is corroborated. 

" By Zebulon, however, are understood those who believe the doctrinals 
from the Word, with whom therefore an affirmative principle reigns 
universally, and yet faith with them has not life in truths, but in 
scientifics ; for they apply scientifics to doctrinals, and thus strengthen 
their affirmative principle. They, therefore, do not elevate themselves 
above scientifics, but when they hear or think a truth of faith they at 
once fall into what is scientific. Of this nature there are many in the 
world ; the Lord also provides that scientifics and sensuals shall be of 
use to them " (A. C. 6383). 

Again we read : — 

(184.) "A man who is worldly or corporeal at heart says, unless 
I am instructed concerning faith, and the things belonging to faith by 
the things of the senses, that I may see, or by scientifics that I may 
understand, I am not willing to believe ; and he confirms himself by 
this consideration, that natural things cannot be opposed to spiritual 
things. He, therefore, desires to be instructed in celestial and Divine 
things from the things of the senses, which yet is as impossible as for a 
camel to pass through the eye of a needle. The more he desires to be 
wise from such things, the more he blinds himself, even to such a 
degree that he believes nothing, not even that there is spirit and an 
eternal life. This flows from the principle which he has adopted. 
This is meant by eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and the 
more any one eats of this tree, the more he becomes dead. 

" But he who does not desire to be wise from the world, but from the 
Lord, says at heart, that we must believe the Lord, i.e. those things 
which the Lord has spoken in the Word, because they are truths, and 
he thinks from this as a starting-point. He confirms himself by things 
rational, scientific, sensual, and natural, and those things which do not 
confirm he separates " (A. C. 128). 

(185.) "The more any one consults natural scientifics, and clings to 
them with his exterior and interior mind in respect to the truths of faith, 
the more he loses the light of truth, and with the light the life of truth. 
Every one, if he attends and reflects, may know this from experience, 
from the case of those who say that they cannot believe, unless by 



232 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

sensual and scientific things they comprehend that a thing is so. If you 
explore them as to their quality, you will find that they believe nothing, 
and further that nothing appears wiser to them than to attribute each 
and everything to nature. 

"There are also many who say that they believe, although they do 
not comprehend, and who nevertheless in secret with themselves, just 
like the others, reason from sensual and scientific things concerning the 
truths of faith whether they be so. These have either a certain inflated 
principle from the love of self and of the world, or they believe nothing 
at all. Their quality appears from their life" {A. C. 2852; compare 
also A. C. 233, 4760). 

The second duty of New Churchmen in respect to 
the use of reason in matters of doctrine, as we have 
seen repeatedly throughout this Chapter and Chapter 
VIII., is " to confirm " the doctrine drawn from the Word 
of God by " rational, scientific, and sensual things." 

A truth of doctrine is confirmed by rational things 
when it is logically connected with other truths, 
according to the following teaching : — 

(186.) " One truth without connection with other truths is not con- 
firming ; there must be several in connection, then one may appear 
from the other. One does not produce a form, hence not a quality, 
but several connected in a series ; for as one tone does not make a 
tune, still less a harmony, so neither does one single truth constitute a 
truth" {A. C. 4197). 

Again, a truth of doctrine is confirmed rationally 
by having instilled into it the particulars of doctrine 
belonging to it, as is taught in the following passage : — 

(187.) "External, i.e. general, ideas which are not yet illustrated by 
least particulars are infirm and vacillating, and suffer themselves to be 
carried away by every wind, i.e. to be inclined to any opinion ; but 
when they are illustrated by these particulars, then they become firm 
and obtain consistency ; for from these they derive both what belongs 
to their essence and their form " [A. C. 3820). 

The process of instilling the particulars of doctrine 



GENUINE USE OF REASON. 233 

into its generals is brought about by collecting to- 
gether all those passages of the writings which have a 
bearing upon one another, and which illustrate the 
same general principle ; and further, by digesting all 
these passages into one grand whole by a process of 
co-ordination and subordination. That this process 
must take place in order that the Church may be 
established, is taught in what follows : — 

(188.) "The establishment of the Church takes place as follows: 
first of all the doctrinals of good must be collected into one — for upon 
these the building is to be erected. There exists also a connection 
between the several points of doctrine, and they have respect to one 
another ; wherefore, unless they be first collected into one, when a 
deficiency arises, it will have to be supplied from man's own rational ; 
and how much this is blind and visionary in spiritual and Divine things 
has been shown above. For this reason the Word was given to 
the Church, in which are all the doctrinals of good and truth " {A. C. 
3786). 

The work of digesting into one the doctrinals of f 
the Church is the special work of the ministry, who, 
by their training, and the gift of the Holy Spirit 
by their ordination (see T. C. R. 146), are fitted in an 
orderly manner thereto. Hence we read that "the, 
laity are in the externals [or generals] of the doctrine 
of the Church, and the clergy in its internals [or 
particulars]" (A. R. 567; compare also A. R. 398, 
403, and 404). 

The doctrine of the Church is confirmed besides by 
scientifics, both by such as are derived from the letter 
of the Word (A. C. 6832), and also by such as are the 
result of a study of the various objects and relations 
in the natural world. That the doctrine of the Church 
is to be confirmed by the letter of the Word, appears 
from what follows : — 



234 A UTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

(189.) "Doctrine must not only be drawn from the sense of the 
letter of the Word, but also be confirtned by it ; for unless the truth of 
doctrine is confirmed by the letter of the Word, it appears as if only 
the intelligence of man, and not the Lord's Divine Wisdom, is con- 
tained in it ; doctrine also in this case would be like a house in the air 
and not upon earth, and thus it would be without a basis " ( T. C. R. 
227). 

The confirmation of truth by scientifics of either 
kind is by no means an easy task, and it can be done 
only by those who are in an affirmative state of mind, 
and who at the same time possess the requisite in- 
tellectual capacity, as appears plainly from the follow- 
ing passage : — 

(190.) "Consulting scientifics concerning Divine Truths is seeing 
from them whether they are so. This takes place in a different manner 
with those who are in an affirmative state that a truth is true. When 
these consult scientifics, they confirm the truth thereby, and thus 
corroborate faith. It is different with those who are in a negative 
state : when these consult scientifics, they cast themselves more into 
falsities ; for a negative principle reigns with them, but an affirmative 
principle with the former. 

"Besides, this is according to the intellectual faculty with every 
man. If any one has not a higher, i.e. an interior intuition, when he 
consults scientifics, he does not see the confirmation of truth in them, 
wherefore he is carried off by scientifics into a negative state. But 
those who have a higher, i.e. an interior, intuition, see confirmations, 
and if not otherwise, still by correspondences" {A. C. 4760). 

The difficulty of confirming truths by scientifics 
arises from the fact of their being acquired in the light 
of nature, wherefore they appear sometimes opposed 
to truths ; but when scientifics are subordinated to 
truths, and hence illuminated by the light of truth, 
then this apparent discrepancy vanishes, as is proved 
in what follows : — 

(191.) "Scientifics are general vessels which appear sometimes 



GENUINE USE OF REASON 235 

opposed to truths, before truths are instilled into them, and they are 
made transparent thereby, so as not to appear. Besides, scientifics are 
full of the fallacies of the senses which cannot be removed by those who 
are in mere knowledges from doctrine, and are not in the perception of 
truth from good; and especially for this reason that the light of the 
world prevails with them, which appears clear as long as the light of 
heaven does not flow into it; but as soon as the light of heaven flows 
in obscurity takes the place of light. Hence those who are in 
scientifics are enlightened in the things of the world, but obscure and 
dull in the things of heaven. 

"Those, however, who are in the light of heaven are in illustration 
from the Lord, and before confirmation apperceive by inspection of the 
scientifics which are below, and arranged there in order, whether the 
truth may be confirmed or not, i.e. whether it agrees. It hence 
appears that the latter have an interior intuition, which is above the 
scientifics and distinct ; but the others a lower intuition, which is among 
the scientifics, and thus which is perplexed" (A. C. 6865). 

The only scientifics, however, by which spiritual 
truths are actually confirmed, and which by the in- 
sinuation of spiritual truths " become transparent as 
it were, so as not to appear," are correspondences, as 
has been mentioned already in No. 190; this is 
further corroborated in what follows : — 

(192.) "All things of faith and love have with them an idea from 
such things as man knows ; for without an idea from knowable and 
sensuous things man cannot think with himself; and man then thinks 
justly even of those things which are of faith and love, when he thinks 
of them from correspondences. For correspondences are natural truths 
in which, as in mirrors, are represented spiritual truths. Wherefore, in 
proportion as ideas of thought concerning spiritual things are formed 
independently of correspondences, in the same proportion they are 
formed either from the fallacies of the senses, or from incongruous 
things " (A. C. 9300). 

The moral conditions, upon which the illustration 
from the Lord depends by which the men of the 
Church are confirmed in truths, are described in the 
following passage : — 



236 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

(193.) "The confirmation of truths takes place by illustration from 
the Lord when man studies the Word with the end of knowing truths. 
Those who are in externals without an internal cannot be illustrated, 
and hence cannot be confirmed in truths. But when those who are in 
externals, and at the same time in internals, read the Word, they are 
illustrated, and in their state of illustration see truths in which they are 
afterwards more and more confirmed ; and what is surprising, every 
one has illustration in proportion to his affection for the truth, and his 
affection for the truth is according to his good of life. Hence also it is 
that those who are not in the love of the truth for the sake of truth, but 
for the sake of gain, are not at all illustrated when they read the Word, 
but are only confirmed in their doctrinals whatever their quality may 
be, whether heretical, or altogether opposed to truths ; for they do not 
seek the Lord's kingdom, but the world ; not faith, but fame ; thus not 
heavenly, but only earthly riches. If they be perchance inflamed 
by the desire of knowing truths from the Word, falsities offer them- 
selves to them in the place of truths, and finally they come into a denial 
of all things" (A. C. 7012). 

In this passage is described the illustration, which 
is according to the good of love in man, and which 
affects both clergy and laity alike ; but with the 
clergy, we are taught, there is in addition a special 
illustration which is conveyed to them by the inaugural 
rite into the ministry (see T. C. R. 146, 155, and 
Canons, Holy Spirit, Chap. IV., Nos. 7 to 9); and by this 
special illustration they are protected in the exercise 
of their office, and are elevated into superior light, 
and are thus gifted with that higher intuition, which 
is spoken of in Nos. 190 and 191, by which they are 
enabled to see the truth of doctrine before confirming 
it by the letter of the Word and by natural scientifics. 
That such a protection and illustration from the 
Lord are absolutely needed by the Lord's ministers 
in order that they may conscientiously discharge the 
duties of their calling, may appear from a thoughtful 
consideration of the following passage : — 



GENUINE USE OF REASON. 237 

(194.) "Spiritual things can be comprehended as well as natural 
things when they ARE heard OR read, but with difficulty by the 
man himself when he thinks from himself (D. F. 3). 

Congregations, therefore, when they hear the doc- 
trine of the Church preached, or when they read it, 
comprehend it as well as they do natural things ; but 
the ministers whose business it is to exercise their 
thought upon the doctrine of the Church, and to 
confirm it by rational and scientific considerations, 
experience greater difficulties. For when a man 
simply hears or reads, his understanding only be- 
comes affected ; and as his understanding is separated 
from his will, he may be raised as to his understand- 
ing even into the light of angels (71 C. R. 79). It is 
different, however, when he exercises his own thought 
upon a subject of doctrine ; for then he flows with 
his will into his understanding, and it is the will that 
thinks in the understanding. Man's own thought, 
therefore, is always more or less tinged by that which 
is his own, and on that account it is compared in the 
writings to an eagle which flies high up in the air, but 
as soon as it discovers a quarry below, shoots down 
and devours it (Intercourse 14; T. C. R. 590). Man, 
therefore, ought not to think from himself on matters 
of doctrine ; he ought never to collect information on 
such subjects from himself, but ought always to go to 
the writings of our Church, and thus to the Word ; 
for all the doctrines in these writings are drawn from 
the Word. On this account also the ministers in the 
New Church are enjoined in the writings of our 
Church " to teach men according to the doctrine of 
their Church from the Word" (A. C. 10,794; H. D. 



238 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

315), and even "in heaven," we read, "the preaching 
is in agreement with the doctrines " (H. H. 221). As 
long, therefore, as the ministers and the members of 
^the Church in general think and speak on spiritual 
subjects from doctrine, and not from themselves, so 
long they are preserved from falling into error and 
n . falsity ; but in proportion as they go to themselves, 
^> and not to doctrine, for information, in the same pro- 
^ portion their presentation of doctrine becomes errone- 
ous and more or less false. 

It is because man's thought is almost certain to be 
led astray when "he thinks from himself" on matters 
of doctrine, that the candidates for the ministry are 
introduced into their office by a representative rite 
which is perceived in heaven ; and it is by influx into 
this sign, which remains impressed upon them, that 
their understanding is capable of being protected by 
the Lord from the evils of their own will, while they 
are in the exercise of their office. Wherefore we read 
that " by the inauguration into the ministry there are 
conveyed to the clergy the gifts belonging to their 
office, which are illustration, perception, disposition, 
and instruction ; " but concerning perception we read 
further, that " it is according to the state of a man's 
mind as formed by doctrinals," and concerning illus- 
tration, that " it is turned into various kinds of light 
and heat, with every one according to the condition 
of his mind" (T. C. R. 155 ; see also 146), and further, 
that " illustration with every one is according to the 
state of knowledges with him (see Chap. VI., Nos. 
60 to 63). 

That man is in an altogether different state when 



GENUINE USE OF REASON. 239 

he hears and reads than when he thinks from himself 
on doctrinal matters, is demonstrated still more clearly 
in the following statement of doctrine taken from D. 
L. W. 361 :— 

(195.) "There is a difference between knowing from common per- 
ception [or from common sense], from thought, and from writing about 
a thing. A thing well understood by common perception is con- 
fused when a man exercises his thought upon it, because thought 
communicates with the sight of the body ; and it is still less compre- 
hended when a man writes about it, for then the thought communicates 
with the sensual degree, which is a man's own or h\s pro prium. Hence 
it is that some can think and speak well, and still not write well ; this 
is common with the female sex. By submitting a thing to thought man 
recedes from common perception ; and if he writes concerning it from 
thought, he confirms it by appearances and fallacies, and by words of 
mere sound and no import. Hence it is that many of the learned who 
have thought much, and still more those who have written much, have 
weakened and obscured, yea, even destroyed, common perception [i.e. 
common sense] in themselves; and that the simple-minded see more 
clearly what is good and true than they who consider themselves 
wiser. This common perception is caused by influx from heaven, and 
falls into the thought, and thence into the very sight, but thought 
separate from common perception falls into the imagination from the 
sight and from proprium." 

We see from this statement how dangerous it is for 
those who are unwilling to be directed by doctrine to 
think and write on doctrinal subjects ; for they fall 
invariably into errors and falsities of doctrine. We 
see also how important it is that they who set them- 
selves up as teachers and leaders of the Church should 
have the greatest veneration for the doctrine revealed 
from heaven for the benefit of the Church, and that 
they should always " teach in accordance with the 
doctrine of their Church from the Word," whether 
they teach orally or by the pen, and that, on account 



240 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

of their proneness to error, they should not neglect the 
Divinely-appointed means by which their understand- 
ing may be in illustration from the Lord while they 
are in the performance of their sacred office. 

As the ministry in the Church, i.e. those who have 
been introduced into the ministry through the orderly 
gate of ordination, are capable of being protected by 
the Lord while in the performance of the duties of 
their office, i.e. while meditating, writing, or preaching 
on doctrinal subjects, and hence while " teaching from 
the Word the doctrine of the Lord, of redemption 
and salvation by Him," therefore also we read : — 

(196.) "Good may be instilled into another by any one in the 
country, but not truth, except by those who are teaching ministers; if 
others do so, heresies spring up, and the Church is disturbed and torn 
in pieces " {A. C. 6822). 

The ministers of the Church, however, although 
protected by the Lord in the performance of the 
duties of their office, are not gifted thereby with in- 
fallibility, and their clearness of vision is troubled 
whenever they allow themselves to be carried away 
by the impulses of their own unregenerated wills, and 
especially by the desire of ruling over others, which 
so often manifests itself in a dogmatic mode of teach- 
ing ; and also whenever they do not " first collect into 
one all the doctrinals of the Church " before attempt- 
ing to set forth the teaching of the Church in sermons, 
and thus when they endeavour to explain these teach- 
ings in the light of their own rational (compare No. 
188). If, therefore, a minister at any time should 
attempt to force his own teachings upon his hearers 
without proving their truth by "the doctrine of his 



GENUINE USE OF REASON. 241 

Church from the Word," then the latter ought to address 
him in the language of the angel which is quoted in 
No. 196 : — " Do you consider yourself God, whom we 
ought to believe, or do you believe us so insane as to 
believe an assertion in which we do not see any truth ? 
Cause us to see the truth ! " 

In discovering the truth or falsity of a minister's 
teachings, his hearers have an advantage over him in 
this respect, that in hearing, the understanding may 
be separated from the will and raised into the light 
of heaven ; and if they continue in a prayerful and 
docile state of mind, they may be illustrated by the 
Lord so as to perceive clearly where the minister is 
right, and where he is not. This perception, however, 
they enjoy only so long as they are not in a critical 
mood, and do not test the minister's teaching by their 
own preconceived ideas on a subject, but weigh it 
impartially in the light of the evidence which he 
adduces from the doctrine of the Church, and thereby 
from the Word. For as soon as they think on any 
subject from themselves, i.e. from their own precon- 
ceived ideas, their mind is closed against the common 
perception from heaven, and they are more or less 
under the influence of the fallacies of the senses, 
because " thought communicates with the sight of the 
body." But, if under the influence of these precon- 
ceived ideas they write on the subject, they not only 
expose themselves to the fallacies of the senses, but 
"their thought descends even into the sensual degree 
of their soul, where their own, or their proprium is," 
and then they are filled with hatred against him who 

Q 



242 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

holds a different doctrinal view from themselves, and 
they become personal and vindictive. 

Let all, therefore, upon approaching the doctrine of 
the Church, remember that they stand on holy ground, 
and that they are utterly unable to see the truth of 
doctrine from themselves, but only from the Lord ; 
and that ~ if they would see the truth from the Lord, 
they must approach the doctrine which is drawn from 
the Word in an affirmative, and not in a negative, 
frame of mind. 

From this it follows that there is no authority in- 
herently in the ministers of the Church, not even 
by virtue of the office which they fill, but that all 
authority is derived to them from the doctrine of 
Divine Truth which is contained in the literal and 
spiritual senses of the Word, and which they are com- 
missioned to teach and preach to the members of the 
Lord's Church upon earth. 

As long as they loyally teach and preach this 
doctrine, and by means of it endeavour to lead the 
members of the Church to the good of life, so long 
" they are good shepherds" (H. D. 315), and the Lord 
prospers the work of their hands. But as soon as 
ever they swerve from the path of duty, and seek 
after popularity, having more respect to the will of 
man than the will of God ; or, if, instead of calling 
men to repentance, they confirm them in their evils 
and falsities by pandering to their selfishness and 
worldliness ; if, therefore, they do not lead the mem- 
bers of the Church to the genuine good of life which 
consists in shunning one's evils as sins against God, and 
if, instead of leading men to the Lord, they make them 
personal followers of themselves, then " they are bad 



GENUINE USE OF REASON. 243 

shepherds" (H. D. 315), and instead of building up 
the Lord's Church they weaken and destroy it. 

The Church can be built up only by following 
closely the doctrine of the Lord as taught in the 
internal and external senses of the Sacred Scripture ; 
but if men place their own doctrine in the place of 
the Lord's doctrine, or if they place themselves above 
the Lord's doctrine by denying its supreme authority, 
they may indeed build up an outward semblance 
of the Church, but within it will bear the seed of 
decay and dissolution, according to the following 
teaching of the Lord : — " Therefore, whosoever heareth 
these sayings of Mine, and doeth them, I will liken 
him unto a wise man, who built his house upon a 
rock ; and the rain descended, and the floods came, 
and the winds blew, and beat upon that house ; and 
it fell not : for it was founded upon a rock. And 
every one that heareth these sayings of Mine, and 
doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, 
who built his house upon the sand ; and the rain 
descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, 
and beat upon that house ; and it fell : and great was 
the fall of it " (Matt. vii. 24-27). 

All that has been said here in respect to the min- 
isters or priests, who are defined in the writings of 
our Church as "the superiors or heads who are to 
administer those things which belong to Divine Law 
and to worship " (see Chap. I., No. 3), applies also to 
all others who exercise dominion and authority in the 
Church, and hence it applies in an especial manner to 
the general governing bodies of the Church called 
conventions and conferences. 



244 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

These ' bodies, so far as they administer " those 
things which belong to Divine Law and worship," are 
just as much under "the doctrines of their Church" 
{H. D. 315), which are derived from the Word of God, 
as the ministers and priests are ; and if they violate 
these doctrines, or substitute their own doctrine for 
them, they are just as much to be blamed as the 
ministers are when they violate these doctrines. 

The will of men, whether it be that of an individual 
minister, or of a majority of ministers and laymen in 
convention assembled, counts absolutely nothing in 
matters of " Divine Law and worship." The will of 
men, unless directed by infallible and Divine doctrine, 
comes from below and not from above, and therefore 
the Church is wrong if it allows itself to be governed 
by it. 

Ministers, and conventions or conferences of the 
Church, however, establish the truth of their assertions 
in matters of " Divine Law and worship," by showing 
the consonance of their teachings and enactments 
with Divine doctrine, or by basing their own doctrines 
and regulations exclusively on such doctrine. For 
human reason, as we have repeatedly shown, unless 
instructed by doctrine revealed from heaven, is totally 
unable of itself to determine what is right and wrong 
in matters of the Church, i.e. of the Lord's Kingdom. 

Much mischief has been wrought by introducing 
into the deliberative and governing assemblies of the 
Church the usages by which men are governed in 
their political assemblies. The final authority of our 
Church is not in men, but in the doctrines of the 
internal sense of the Word which the Lord revealed at 



GENUINE USE OF REASON. 245 

His Second Coming. And, again, the authority of 
our Church is vested in men, yet only in proportion as 
they allow themselves to be ruled and governed by 
these doctrines. Majorities, therefore, may rule and 
carry the day in political assemblies, and also in 
Church bodies, so far as they do not legislate on 
matters belonging to " Divine Law and worship ; " but 
in all questions belonging to internal and external 
worship (see Chap. I., No. 4) the will of the majority, 
so far as it is opposed to the spirit and letter of 
the doctrines of the Word, comes from below, and on 
that account can no more expect to be permanently 
respected in the Church than the falsities of hell can 
expect permanently to rule and govern the Lord's 
Church on earth. 

The will of men, by nature, is always arrayed 
inimically against the will of God, wherefore in the 
establishment of the Lord's Church on earth no 
dependence whatever can be placed on the will of 
men, but only on the doctrines of our Church. And 
woe to those ministers and priests who, in the exercise 
of the duties of their calling, lean upon men, and not 
upon God's truth ; for concerning them we read : 
" Now, behold, thou trustest upon the staff of this 
bruised reed, even upon Egypt, on which if a man 
lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it : so is 
Pharaoh, king of Egypt, unto all that trust in him " 
(2 Kings xviii. 21). 

If the question is asked, What is the duty of the 
Church not only in respect to the doctrines taught by 
its ministers, but also in respect to those enacted in 
the form of regulations by its deliberative assemblies ? 



246 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

we declare that this duty is clearly taught in Chapter 
VIII. , No. 169; which passage for convenience' sake 
we transcribe here in full : — 

" At first the doctrinals of the Church are to be 
learned, and then an examination must be made from 
the Word as to whether they are true ; since they are 
not true because the leaders of the Church have said 
so and their followers affirm it : for in this case the 
doctrinals of all churches and religions might be 
declared true simply from their soil and birthplace, 
and there would thus be truths not only of the 
Papists and Quakers, but also of the Jews and 
Mahometans, because their leaders have declared 
them to be so, and their followers affirm them. 
Whence it follows that the Word ought to be searched, 
and examination made therein, as to whether doc- 
trinals are true ; when this is done from the affection 
of truth, man is illustrated by the Lord, so that, not 
knowing whence, he notices what is true, and is con- 
firmed therein according to the good in which he is ; 
if these truths differ from the doctrinals, then let him 
take heed, lest he disturb the Church" {A. C. 6047). 

Here the member of the Church is enjoined to 
examine the doctrinals of his Church in the light of 
the Word. By the doctrinals of the Church are here 
meant, on the one hand, those taught by the ministers, 
and on the other, all such enactments in matters of 
doctrine and worship as have been passed and adopted 
by the conventions and conferences of the Church. 

These doctrines are not true because the ministers 
have preached them in their pulpits, neither are the en- 
actments true because the Church assemblies have by 



GENUINE USE OF REASON. 247 

a majority of votes declared them to be so. Unless 
these doctrines and enactments can be shown to 
harmonize with the doctrines of the internal sense, and 
thus with the law of our Church, the ministers have no 
right to expect their doctrines to be accepted by the 
people, nor have our conventions and conferences a 
right to expect that their rulings will be respected by 
the Church. 

Still, we read in the passage quoted above, If the 
member of the Church finds that " the truth as he 
discovers it in the Word," i.e. in the authoritative doc- 
trines of the internal and external sense of the Word, 
" differs from the doctrinals, let him take heed lest he 
disturb the Church." 

Should the members of the Church, therefore, find 
a discrepancy between the doctrines of the internal 
and external senses of the Word as perceived by 
themselves, and the teachings of their ministers, or the 
enactments of their conventions and conferences, then 
let them be careful, lest in calling attention to it they 
" disturb the Church," or in other words, lest they 
injure the function of the minister and of the General 
Convention or Conference in their midst. In calling 
attention to such a discrepancy the members of the 
Church, therefore, must be " prudent as serpents, and 
simple as doves" (Matt. x. 16). 

From this it may be seen how very important it is 
that not only the ministers of our Church, but also the 
members of our general Church bodies, should be 
directed by a true and genuine understanding of the 
doctrines of our Church. 

In the case of the ministers, the Church by the 



248 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

institution of proper theological seminaries takes care 
that its ministers should be instructed and trained in 
the genuine understanding of its doctrines ; and our 
conventions and conferences provide for a proper 
understanding of the doctrines of our Church on the 
part of its members, by submitting to a committee, 
consisting of its most learned and experienced min- 
isters, all points that have reference to " Divine Law 
and worship." These points, however, are not to be 
submitted to such a committee for final settlement, but 
for a preliminary investigation in the light of the 
doctrines of our Church. This committee in fact 
should be called upon to declare the law of our Church 
on such points ; and after the law has been established 
by this committee from the writings of our Church, 
these points should be recommitted by them to the 
General Conference or Convention for final action. 

That this is the orderly course to be pursued by 
our general Church bodies in legislating on points of 
" Divine Law and worship," is clearly proved by the 
following extracts from a letter addressed by Sweden- 
borg in 1770 to the Swedish universities of Upsal, 
Lund, and Abo : — 

(197.) "I have been informed by two gentlemen of the privy or 
executive council, that the privy councillors or senators are pontifex 
viaximus, to which I then gave no answer. Should I still hear such 
assertions from them, I would answer, that they are by no means 
fiontifex maximus, but vicarius vicarii pontificis maximi ; because Jesus 
Christ our Saviour is the only Pontifex Maximus ; the various Houses of 
the Realm are His vicarius, wherefore they are answerable to Him, and 
the privy councillors or senators are the vicarii of the Houses of the 
Realm ; because they are appointed by them, and hence they are vicarius 
vicarii pontificis maxitni. That the Pope of Rome called himself 



GENUINE USE OF REASON. 249 

pontifex maximus, is of arrogance, because he has taken and assumed to 
himself all the power of Christ our Saviour, and placed himself on His 
throne, making the people believe that he is Christ upon earth. Every 
inferior pontifex or vicarius pontificis maximi ought to have their con- 
sistory. The Houses of the Realm have their consistory in the House 
of the Clergy, and the privy council has its consistory particularly at the 
universities." 

From this letter it follows that : — 

First, " Jesus Christ is the Pontifex Maximus" or 
the supreme authority in the Church. The Lord, 
however, is made the supreme ruler in the Church 
when we regard His Word, and the doctrines of 
the internal sense which He has revealed at His 
Second Coming as the law, and hence as the supreme 
authority in our Church. 

Secondly, Our general conventions and conferences 
are the " vicarius Pontificis Maximi" and thus the 
Church in convention assembled is hereby authorized 
to act as the Lord's representative or as His vicarius 
in this world. It is worthy of remark here that 
Swedenborg does not designate the ministers or the 
House of the Clergy as the vicarius Pontificis Maximi ; 
but all the four Houses of the Swedish Diet, viz. 
those of the peasants, the burghers, the clergy, and 
the nobility ; and hence that he declares a mixed 
body of laymen and ministers, such as our American 
Convention and our English Conference, to be the 
supreme power in the Church under the Lord Jesus 
Christ, i.e. under His Divine Truth, which is contained 
in the Word of God, and in the doctrines of the 
internal sense which are drawn from the Word of 
God. This same statement Swedenborg reiterated to 
his friend Robsahm in the following words : " The 



250 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

House of the Clergy is not the only judge in matters 
of religion, inasmuch as religion belongs also to the 
other houses " (see " Documents," etc., vol. i. p. 38). 2 

Thirdly, The Executive Council or Committee of 
a Convention or Conference, which is potentially in 
session throughout the year, and which again must 
be a mixed body of laymen and ministers, is the 
" vicarius vicarii Pontificis Maximi" because it is 
appointed by the general body of the Church. It is 
responsible to that body, because appointed by it, and 
it acts under the same law, to which the general body 
of the Church itself has sworn allegiance. 

Foitrthly, " Every inferior flontif ex or vicarius Ponti- 
ficis Maximi ought to have its consistory." By 
a consistory is meant here a general advisory com- 
mittee of clergymen, whose business it is to declare 
the law of the Church, that is, the teachings of the 
doctrines of the internal sense, on all questions con- 
cerning " Divine Law and worship " that are submitted 
to the General Convention or Conference, or to their 
Executive Council for adjudication. The ministers of 
the Church, therefore, are not only members of the 
general conferences and conventions, and of their 
executive councils, but they should form also an ad- 
visory board of the conventions and conferences of the 
Church on all points that concern " Divine Law and 
worship," or internal and external worship. The 
advisory board of the executive council, however, 
according to Swedenborg, ought to consist of the 
professors of the theological seminaries. 

1 See also vol. ii. p. 355, where Swedenborg shows that "theo- 
logical matters belong to the other houses also." 



GENUINE USE OF REASON. 251 

This plan of the general organization of the New 
Church Swedenborg himself submits to our considera- 
tion, and we earnestly call upon our brethren in the 
Church to take this plan seriously into consideration, 
and to adopt and constantly act upon it : for only thus, 
and in no other way, shall we be able to establish the 
Lord's truth as the law of our Church, and only thus 
will the Church escape the selfish rule of men, whether 
laymen or priests. 

If now, in conclusion, it should be asked, What of 
those men in the New Church who refuse to acknow- 
ledge the doctrines of the internal sense contained in 
the theological writings of Emanuel Swedenborg as 
the supreme law of the Church ? We answer that 
laymen are, in this respect, differently placed from 
ministers. 

If any, for instance, deny the plain teaching of our 
Church that the Lord has, in and by the doctrines 
of the New Jerusalem published by His servant 
Emanuel Swedenborg, effected His Second Coming 
(see Chap. II., No. 6), they in respect to that doc- 
trine are in the denial of the truth, and are more or 
less confirmed in the opposite falsity, that these doc- 
trines are the mental product of Emanuel Swedenborg. 
To such men, if they are laymen, the following 
teaching of our Church applies : " He who believes 
differently from the priest, and does not make dis- 
turbances, ought to be left in peace ; but he who 
makes disturbances ought to be separated ; for this 
also is agreeable to order, for the sake of which the 
priesthood is established" (H. D. 318). If such a person 
is a minister, the following teaching from T. C. R. 



252 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH. 

784 applies to his case: ".It is agreeable to Divine 
order that a New Heaven be formed before a New 
Church on earth. ... In proportion as this New 
Heaven, which constitutes the internal of the Church 
with man, increases, in the same proportion there will 
descend out of heaven the New Jerusalem, i.e. the 
New Church. Wherefore this cannot be effected in 
a moment, but in proportion as the falsities of the 
former Church are removed. For the new cannot 
enter where falsities have formerly been rooted, unless 
these be removed, which must take place with the 
clergy, and thus with the laity!' 

From this passage it follows that the New Jerusalem 
will descend out of heaven in proportion as the 
opposing falsities are removed " from the clergy, and 
thus from the laity ; " and it follows further that the 
New Church will be established on earth by means of 
the clergy. If now the clergy in the New Church 
profess and teach doctrinal views which are opposed 
to the plain teachings of the doctrines of our Church, 
they profess and teach falsities, and thus to a greater 
or less extent obstruct the descent of the New Jeru- 
salem out of heaven, and also cause disorder and 
dissension in the Church, wherefore obstructive and 
"disturbing" ministers must likewise be separated. 

The dangers which beset the Lord's New Church 
are many and various ; for the powers of darkness are 
ever striving to prevent the establishment of the Lord's 
Kingdom on earth. None understand the power of 
the Lord's Divine Truth better than evil spirits ; and 
they are fully aware that where the Divine Truth is 
accepted as a final authority, their own power is 



GENUINE USE OF REASON. 253 

broken and annihilated (see No. 145). Many and 
various, therefore, are the means and subterfuges to 
which they resort in order to invalidate Divine Truth 
in the sight of New Churchmen ; even as we read, 
" There shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and 
shall show great signs and wonders ; insomuch that, 
if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect" 
i.e. those among whom the Lord establishes His New 
Church. The faith of New Churchmen, therefore, is 1 
never safe unless it is firmly based on this acknowledg- 
ment, that the Lord effected His Second Coming in 
and by means of those works which He wrote through 
His servant Emanuel Swedenborg (No. 10) ; that 
these works, therefore, are of Divine and not of merely 
human authority; and that no apparent contradictions 
or other outward flaws in the text of these works can 
detract from their Divine authority. 

Courage is required in order to carry out to its / 
legitimate conclusions the principle that the Lord 
effected His Second Coming in and by means of the 
writings of the New Church, and that hence they 
come to us with Divine authority, and partake of the 
nature of infallibility. This courage, however, some- 
times fails NewChurchmenwhoareotherwise brave, and 
who give evidence that they fear God more than men. 
In the elevation of their rational thought, while speak- 
ing and teaching from the doctrine of our Church, 
they acknowledge that the Lord effected His Second 
Coming through the instrumentality of Swedenborg. 
They therefore abstractly believe and lay down pre- 
mises which, when pushed to "their legitimate logical 
conclusions, demand infallibility for those writings 



254 AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH 

which the Lord wrote and published through Sweden- 
borg ; yet when they descend from their rational into 
their natural thought, and when they are confronted 
with those writings which are the natural embodi- 
ments of the Lord's doctrine in respect to His Second 
Coming; and especially when the thought of their 
natural man points out to them apparent contradic- 
tions in these writings, or differences between its 
teachings and those of natural science, doubts begin 
to arise in their minds, and their faith is like Peter, 
who staggered and sank when he had no longer faith 
in the Divine authority, and hence in the infallibility 
of the Divine Truth, i.e. of the Lord Himself, who 
was Divine Truth incarnate. 

Our object has been to protect and defend the doc- 
trine of the Lord's Second Coming, as taught in the 
writings of the New Church, when exposed to the in- 
genious reasonings of the natural man, by which the 
Divine authority, and hence the infallibility, of those 
writings, in and by which the Lord effected His Second 
Coming, is invalidated and denied. 

May we express a hope that we have realized our 
object, and that our work may strengthen in the minds 
of New Churchmen the conviction that the Lord has 
indeed effected His Second Coming by the writings 
of the New Church, and that in these writings we have 
an infallible criterion and standard of the truth, and 
at the same time a supreme law which all the members 
of the Church may acknowledge without giving up in 
the least degree their freedom and rationality. May 
our work, therefore, be instrumental in contributing its 
share to the establishment of the Lord's New Church 
on earth ! 



APPENDIX. 



SWEDENBORG ON THE LORD'S ADVENT. 

WHILE this volume was passing through the press, a 
discovery of great importance was made, which must 
prove, at least in the eyes of all those who accept 
Swedenborg's testimony, the principle we have sought, 
in the preceding pages, to establish from the writings 
of the New Church. 

In No. 13, p. 19, the following statement is recorded 
which Swedenborg made in a '■ Sketch of the History 
of the New Church " included in the reproduction by 
photo-lithography of his MSS. (vol. viii. p. 1) : "Upon 
all my books in the spiritual world was written 
The Lord's Advent (Adventus Domini). The same 
I also inscribed, by command, on two copies in 
Holland." 

One of these copies has lately been discovered, 
bearing the following inscription : — 

Hie Liber est Adventus Domini, (2513) {A. R. 626). 

SCRIPTUM EX MANDATO. j 1|35 I 

(8427, p. 19), 

(This Book is the Lord's Advent, 
written by command.) 



256 APPENDIX. 

The reference to the A. R. 626 is not in the hand- 
writing of Swedenborg, but in that of a subsequent 
owner or reader of the book. The title of the work is 
Summaria Expositio Doctrines Novce Ecclesice (A Brief 
Exposition of the Doctrine of the New Church), and 
it is on the original wrapper of it that the inscription 
is written. There are four works, all of them the 
original Latin editions, bound in one volume, viz. : (1) 
Swedenborg s Letter to the Rev. J. Hartley, containing 
his Autobiography ; (2) The Intercourse between the 
Soul and the Body ; (3) A Brief Exposition of the 
Doctrine of the New Church (containing the above 
inscription) ; and (4) The True Christian Religion. 
The two former were published in London in 1769, 
and the two latter in Amsterdam in 1769 and 1771 
respectively. This volume, which no doubt once 
belonged to Swedenborg's own library, is now the 
property of Mr. James Speirs, 36 Bloomsbury Street, 
London. 

The above statement requires no comment, since it 
declares in so many words that in and by the books 
written through Swedenborg the Lord made His 
Advent into this world. They are therefore the 
Lord's works, and not Swedenborg's, and they hence 
come to us with a Divine, and not a merely human 
authority. Besides, as " the Lord's Advent " is written 
on all Swedenborg s books in the spiritual world, and as 
he does not make a distinction in favour of those 
books which he himself published, it follows that the 
Lord effected His Coming also by the Spiritual 
Diary, the Apocalypse Explained, and *all the other 
books that are in the same category with these works. 



THE LORD'S ADVENT. 257 

Such, therefore, is the testimony which Swedenborg 
himself bears, not only in respect to the doctrines con- 
tained in his writings, but also in respect to the 
identical books which he wrote ; for he declares 
expressly that the BOORS THEMSELVES constitute the 
Lord's Coming, and he says further that he wrote 
the above inscription by Divine command. 

Let us now examine the passages which accompany, 
this important statement, which are all taken from the 
Arcana Ccelestia. 

(1.) "The coming of God signifies perception; for perception is 
nothing else than a Divine advent, or a Divine influx into the intellectual 
faculty " {A. C. 2513). If this passage be read in conjunction with the 
inscription which it serves to illustrate and to confirm, it teaches that 
the Lord made His Second Advent in Swedenborg's intellectual faculty, 
and that He thereby imparted to him the gift of perception ; and 
further, that under the influence of this perception Swedenborg wrote 
all those books in and by which the Lord effected His Second Coming 
in this world. But that the Lord's Advent, which was first made in 
Swedenborg's intellectual faculty, and which imparted to it perception, 
was continued also into the very books which he wrote, is proved by the 
fact that " on all his books in the spiritual world was written The Lord's 
Advent, and that the same he also inscribed by command on two copies 
in Holland." The above inscription, therefore, serves in the place of a 
Divine seal, which Swedenborg, the servant of the Lord, was instructed 
to imprint on these books, and by which he was to declare to the 
members of the Lord's New Church, for whom these works were written 
(see No. 161), that they are the Lord's books, and not Swedenborg's. 
The above passage has never before, to our knowledge, been used to 
explain the nature of the Lord's Coming and its connection with the 
state of Swedenborg's inspiration. 

(2.) " Those who have some faith in respect to the internal sense are 
able to see manifestly that by the New Heaven and the New Earth is 
understood a New Church, which will follow when the former Church 
passes away (see Nos. 1733, 1850, 3355), and that Heaven means its 
internal, and the Earth its external. The last time of the former Church, 
and the first of the New Church, is also called the Consummation of the 

R 



258 APPENDIX. 

Age (concerning which the Lord spoke in Matt, xxiv.), and likewise His 
Advent ; for then the Lord withdraws from the former Church and 
comes to the new " (A. C. 4535). In this passage the continuation of 
what precedes is described ; for after the Lord had made His Advent in 
Swedenborg's intellectual faculty, and " through him " (No. 10, p. 18) 
had written those books on which, in the spiritual world, was inscribed 
"The Lord's Advent," by means of the doctrines contained in these 
books He establishes a New Church on earth which "will follow the 
former Church after this passes away." And this passing away of the 
former Church, from which "the Lord then withdraws," as well as the 
establishment of the New Church, to which "the Lord then comes," is 
likewise understood by the Lord's Advent. For further particulars 
respecting the establishment of this New Church, which ' ' will be called 
the New Jerusalem," and " into which those of the former Church are 
invited," see No. 160, p. 202. 

(3.) " By the Lord's Advent is understood His acknowledgment in 
the hearts by love and faith (see Nos. 3353, 3900), as well as His 
revelation {apparitio) out of the Word, the inmost or supreme sense of 
which treats of the Lord alone (No. 4060) ; this advent is understood 
by the Lord's Advent, which takes place when the Old Church is 
rejected and a New Church instituted by the Lord" {A. C. 6895). 
Here the Lord's Coming to the individual man is described ; for we 
learn that by the Lord's Advent is understood " His acknowledgment 
in the heart by love and faith." We learn also that the New Church is 
instituted by the Lord when "the Old Church is rejected;" from 
\ which it follows that in order that the New Church may be established 
I by the Lord in the hearts of men " by love and faith," the Old Church, 

St. e. the falsities and evils which constitute the Old Church, must first 
be rejected ; and further, that only in proportion as men thus "reject 
the Old Church " will the Lord be able to institute a New Church 
I among them. 

(4.) "'And he showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, 
descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. And the 
city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it : for the 
glory of God doth lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof (Rev. 
xxi. 10, II, 23) ; here the glory of God stands manifestly for light from 
the Lord, which is the Divine Truth proceeding from Him, and thus the 
Lord's presence ; for the Lord is present in the Truth which is from Him. 
That the Lord as to the Divine Truth is the glory, appears also in 
Num. xiv. 21, 'I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of 
Jehovah,' where by the glory of Jehovah is meant the Lord's Advent 



'-■: 






CONTRADICTIONS RECONCILED. 259 

and illustration from the Divine Truth which is from Him " (A. C. 
8427, p. 19). Here the final effect of the Lord's Advent is described, 
where, as we read, it causes the Lord's presence and illustration by the 
Divine Truth. This is the effect of the Lord's Coming with those who 
receive the truths contained in the works of Swedenborg, on which, 
in the spiritual world, is written "The Lord's Advent;" and who, 
enlightened by these truths, reject the evils and falsities of the Old 
Church, and acknowledge the Lord " in their hearts by faith and love." 
These, and none others, are capable of seeing the Lord in His glory and 
of being illustrated by His presence, as appears from No. 161, pp. 202 
and 203. 



APPARENT CONTRADICTIONS IN THE WRITINGS 
OF THE NEW CHURCH. 

(1) In the A. E. 118, we read, " ' And the poverty, 
but thou art rich;' that this signifies an acknow- 
ledgment that from themselves they know nothing, 
appears from the signification of poverty, which means 
an acknowledgment of the heart that from themselves 
they know nothing, concerning which see hereafter; 
and also from the signification of but thou art rich, 
which signifies the affection of spiritual truth, concern- 
ing which see hereafter." 

In the A. R. 95 the same passage is given thus : 
" ' And the affliction and poverty,' signifies that they 
are in falsities, and hence not in good." And at the 
close of the paragraph we read, " There are also 
added these words, But thou art rich, yet in paren- 
thesis, and for this reason because they are omitted in 
certain codices " {in quibusdam codicibus). 

Which codices are meant here Swedenborg does 
not explain ; but from the fact that these words exist 
in all the known codices of the Sacred Scripture, and 



260 APPENDIX. 

especially in the Codex Sinaiticus, which is the 
oldest known MS. of the Bible — some New Church- 
men claim that Swedenborg was here in error. 
Or, they say, suppose a codex should be discovered 
which lacks these words, in this case Swedenborg 
in the A. R. would contradict Swedenborg in the 
A. E. ; because in the former book he plainly 
regards these words as parts of Scripture, and gives 
their spiritual meaning, while in the latter work 
he excludes these words from the text, and does not 
give their spiritual meaning. In either case, they say, 
Swedenborg contradicts himself, and thus to the same 
extent shows that his writings do not contain the pure 
truth. 

To this conclusion we are by no means disposed to 
accede, for the simple reason that the facts of the 
case, as presented above, admit of a different explana- 
tion, which completely reconciles this apparent con- 
tradiction. Suppose Swedenborg by his expression 
" in certain codices " alludes to the original codices 
written by the Apostle John himself, and sent by 
him to the seven churches in Asia ; for these seven 
churches had a real existence in Asia, and the Apostle 
John, who understood his prophecy only in a literal, 
and not in a spiritual sense, in order literally to fulfil 
the words of his prophecy, must have sent a copy of 
his revelation to each of the churches, to " the angel 
of which " he was directed to write. On these grounds 
we consider ourselves fully justified in assuming that 
the Apostle John wrote several codices of his prophecy, 
in " certain " of which the words " but thou art rich " 
are omitted. But how could Swedenborg be made 



CONTRADICTIONS RECONCILED. 261 

acquainted with this fact ? By the Apostle John him- 
self, whom he states that he met in the spiritual world 
(T. C.R. 339)- 

If, however, John wrote these words in * certain " of 
his codices, and not in others, it must have been for a 
spiritual reason ; and this reason unquestionably was, 
that in one aspect of the spiritual teaching of this 
passage, as given in the "Apocalypse Explained," 
these words are required ; but not in that other aspect, 
which is presented in the " Apocalypse Revealed" 
(concerning the difference between these two works 
see p. 151). Yet even in the latter work Sweden- 
borg does not say that these words are falsely inter- 
polated, but simply states that these words "are 
added, but in parenthesis, because they are omitted in 
certain codices." 

Besides, if these words had been simply omitted by 
a copyist, either by negligence or design, Swedenborg 
would have ignored their omission, as he did in many 
other cases, where passages are left out in some of 
the oldest copies of the Word, e.g. in the case of the 
doxology in the Lord's Prayer, which is omitted in the 
Codex Vaticanus and the Codex Sinaiticus, but is 
quoted and explained without any further remark by 
Swedenborg in A. E. 48. 

The very fact, however, that Swedenborg ignored 
all the omissions and various readings originating 
with the copyists, lends additional weight to the idea 
that in the present case his statement refers to words 
having been left out in " certain " of the original 
codices written by the Apostle John himself, and not 
in codices which were the work of copyists. 



262 APPENDIX. 

(2) In A. C. 931, we read, "It hence may also 
appear that the earth will not last to eternity, but 
will also have its end ; for we read ' during all the 
days of the earth', i.e. as long as the earth is." 

In L. J. 1 3 however, we read, " But, nevertheless, let 
them know now, that neither the heaven, which is 
visible before our eyes, nor the habitable earth, will 
perish; but that both will endure" (quod utrumque 
permansurum sit). 

Here it is maintained that Swedenborg contradicts 
himself, because in one passage he declares that " the 
earth will not last to eternity," and in another that 
" the habitable earth will endure." 

This contradiction exists only in the English transla- 
tion, and not in the original Latin ; for in that language 
different expressions are used for the English term 
" earth." In the first passage we read that " the earth 
{tellies) will not last to eternity," and in the second 
that " the habitable earth (terra) will endure." There 
is, however, a difference between the Latin words 
tellus and terra; for the former is used to designate 
a planetary orb, in which sense it is constantly used 
by Swedenborg ; but the latter word, viz. terra, is 
employed in describing the soil or the earth on which 
we stand, wherefore it is also used in the sense of 
" land." While Swedenborg therefore in one passage 
declares that " our orb " will not last to eternity, in 
the second passage he says that the " habitable land," 
or the natural world in general, which is inhabited by 
men, will endure. On this account, he also says, in 
L. J. 6, " Because the destruction of the world is not 
understood by the day of the Last Judgment, it 



CONTRADICTIONS RECONCILED. 263 

follows also that the human race will continue, and 
that procreations will not cease." 

As to the statement, however, which Swedenborg 
made in A. C. 931, viz. that " our orb will not last to 
eternity," this statement is made in the Word of God 
itself; for Swedenborg says expressly that it is so 
stated in the Word itself, where we read, " ' during all 
the days of the earth! i.e. as long as the earth is." 

The point that the author intended to make here is 
this, that the earth will not from anything intrinsic in 
it last to eternity, but that its continuance is de- 
pendent on a contingency, which in the same passage 
is described thus, " The earth (tellus) ceases to be 
inhabited when there is no longer any Church ; for 
when there is no Church, there is no longer any com- 
munication between man and heaven ; and when this 
communication ceases, every inhabitant perishes. The 
Church, as stated above, is like the heart and the 

A3 lungs in man ; as long as the heart and the lungs are 

«\~ whole, man lives, hence also as long as there is a 

Church in respect to the Grand Man, which is the 

, universal heaven : wherefore it is here said that 

' during all the days of the earth, seed-time and harvest, 

^ cold and heat, summer and winter, and day and night 
shall not cease.' It hence appears also that the earth 
{tellus) will not last to eternity, but will also have its 
end ; for we read ' during all the days of the earth! i.e. 
as long as the earth is " (see also L.J. id). 



It was our object to collect in this Appendix all the 
contradictions with which the theological writings of 



264 APPENDIX. 

Swedenborg have been charged, and to explain their 
trifling character. But after examining carefully all 
these charges, only the two we have adduced seemed 
to be of sufficient importance to deserve formal refuta- 
tion ; the rest vanish when examined in the original 
Latin, or else they are of too insignificant and flimsy 
a nature to be seriously entertained except by 
such as deny at heart the Divinity of those writings 
on which the Lord instructed His servant to inscribe, 
" This book is the Lord's Advent ; " or such as 
are unwilling to subject the finite reason of man in 
Divine and spiritual things to the Divine, and hence 
to the infallible doctrine of revealed Truth. The 
ground which the New Church occupies in respect to 
these and other alleged contradictions is clearly stated 
in the preceding pages from pp. 48 to 50, and also in 
Nos. 137 to 145 (pp. 183 to 188). 



INDEX. 



Accommodation of Sweden- 
borg's writings to man's state, 146. 

Acknowledgment of Divine 
Truth, prior, 229. 

Advent, Second, how effected, 
15; effected through Swedenborg, 
16 ; consists in revelation of in- 
ternal sense, 19 ; difference be- 
tween the First and, 23 ; charge 
of its not being complete, 27 ; 
evidence that the Lord, through 
Swedenborg, effected His, 196. 

Advent, the Lord's, 255; writ- 
ten on Swedenborg's writings, 19, 

255. 

Affirmation of Divine Truth, 
first, 175. 

Affirmative and negative 
principles, 37. •. 

AFFiRMATiVEprinciple,in New 
Church, 38 ; how caused, 109 ; is 
the first means for the introduction 
of truth, 183. 

Africans, the, of a celestial 
genius, 204. 

Apocalypse " Explained " and 
" Revealed " (difference between), 
150. 

Authority, a consequence of 
order, 1 ; necessary in the Church, 
3 ; unpopular, 5 ; in Roman Ca- 
tholic Church, 6 ; its abuse, 7 ; 
exercised by persons, 7 ; in the 
New Church, 22 ; belief in a 
mixed authority, 33 ; of reason, 
34 ; not inherently in ministers, 



242 ; all authority derived from 
Scripture doctrines, 242 ; no au- 
thority in man's will, 244. 

Belief, first thing, 231. 

Believe (those who), nothing, 
232. 

Beyer, Dr., on the nature of 
Swedenborg's inspiration, 72, 106. 

Ceremonial law, 11. 

Celestial state, how attained, 
209. 

Church, internal and external, 
3, 4 ; defined, 4 ; in general and 
particular, 4 ; necessity of law in, 
1 1 ; celestial and spiritual, 205 ; 
who build it up, 243 ; its final 
authority not in men, 244 ; the 
Lord's representative, 249. 

Christian Church, cause of 
decline of, 12 ; its nature, 93, 94 ; 
spiritual, not celestial, 205. 

Common sense, its nature, 239. 

Conference, rule of majorities 
in, 243 ; under the doctrine of the 
Church, 244 ; its rulings to be 
tested by doctrine, 246 ; opposi- 
tion to its rulings, 247 ; limit of 
its authority, 247 ; must have an 
ecclesiastical committee, 248 ; the 
Lord's representative, when ? 249. 

Confirmation of doctrine, 
from literal sense, 216, 234 ; 
by rational things, 232 ; by scien- 
tifics, 233 ; by scientifics, accord- 



266 



INDEX. 



ing to intellectual acquirements, 
234- 

Confirmations, ought to be 
favoured, not objections, 188 ; 
when required, 227. 

Consistories, their use, 250. 

Contradictions, and incon- 
sistencies in writings of Sweden- 
borg, 48 ; when in persons, and 
not in doctrine, 220 ; reconciled, 
227, 259 ; in Swedenborg, when 
found troublesome, 254. 

Controversy, why injurious, 
225. 

Convention, see Conference. 

Conviction must be slow, 
224. 

Correspondences, effect con- 
junction with heaven, 32 ; not the 
sole means for seeing spiritual 
sense, 215; confirm truth, 234; 
render scientifics transparent, 235. 

Courage, required in the New 
Church, 253. 

Criterion of truth, in New 
Church, 221 ; needed, 221 ; those 
who are deprived of, 221. 

Danger of writing on doctrine 
from proprium, 239. 

Date of opening of Sweden- 
borg's spiritual sight, 97. 

Degrees, in Divine Truth and 
the Word, 57; in the human mind, 
60 ; in the Lord's Divine Human- 
ity, 64. 

Descent of doctrine, 18. 

Difference, between Apoca- 
lypse "Explained" and "Re- 
vealed," 150 ; between regene- 
rated men in general and Sweden- 
borg in particular, 102. 

Discussions, their use, 224. 

Doctrinals, conclusions from 
scientifics, 210; of the Church 
defined, 212 ; to be examined by 
the Word, 212 ; derived from 
literal sense, 214; derived from 



internal sense, 214 ; collection 
into one of, 233 ; passed by 
Conference, 246. 

Doctrine, to be confirmed by 
the letter, 24, 216 ; serves as a 
lamp for understanding the Word, 
63 ; how made to live, 123 ; to 
be drawn from the letter of the 
Word, 157, 216 ; must direct man 
in reading the Word, 179 ; is de- 
stroyed when the rational is con- 
sulted, 182 ; revealed from God, 
and made by man, 191 ; twofold, 
194 ; formed by such as are in illus- 
tration, 195 ; as revealed through 
Swedenborg, and as formed in state 
of illustration, 196 ; becomes a 
nullity by presence of the human, 
176 ; a power when established in 
men's minds, 198 ; to be collected 
from the literal and internal senses, 
201 ; must be from the very Divine 
of the Lord, 181 ; how established 
in human minds, 210 ; has respect 
to rational things, 210; first to be 
learned from others, 213 ; com- 
pared to natural objects, 219 ; in 
the first and second stages of re- 
generation, 228 ; confirmed by 
rational things, 232 ; confirmed by 
scientifics, 233; particulars of, how 
instilled into generals, 233 ; con- 
firmed by letter of the Word, 234 ; 
preserves man from error, 238. 

Doctrine of the New Church, 
nothing must be added nor taken 
from, 25 ; charge of incomplete- 
ness examined, 26 ; drawn from 
the whole Sacred Scripture, 27 ; 
attempts to undermine its autho- 
rity, 29 ; is the internal sense, 29 ; 
and natural science, 42, 44; things 
heard and seen by Swedenborg in 
heaven necessary for understand- 
ing of, 92. 

Doctrines of the New Church, 
are continuous truths revealed by 
the Lord, 177. 



INDEX. 



267 



Dogmatism, charge of, 172; 
its dangers, 1 73 ; protest against, 
173 ; writings of New Church 
averse to, 225. 

Double plane of thought in 
Swedenborg, 102, 103. 

Doubt, raising, thought a mark 
of superior intelligence, 185 ; ex- 
perience, when certain, ought not 
to be doubted, 185 ; advantage of 
discarding, 187. 

Drunken, who are meant 
thereby in the Word, 184 ; spiri- 
tually, 230. 

Ecclesiastical Committee, 
its importance, 248, 250. 

Europeans, the, of a spiritual 
genius, 204. 

Executive Council, its power, 
250. 

Externals are servants, 23. 

Faith, blind, hurtful, 223 ; 
those in, do not reason respecting 
truths, 230 ; when it wavers, 254. 

Freedom, and Freedom itself, 
36. 

Freedom and rationality, before 
and after regeneration, 115; in 
their relation to external and in- 
ternal inspiration, 1 1 6. 

Generals without particulars, 
232. 

Genius, spiritual, defined, 204; 
celestial, defined, 204 ; relatively 
celestial and relatively spiritual, 
207. 

Hearing the truth, 237. 

Heaven, defined, 4. 

Heaven and Hell, the Lord's 
work, 40. 

Hebrew language, its charac- 
ters, 159. 

Hierarchy, its origin, 9. 



Illustrations in Sweden - 
borg's writings, 45. 

Illustration, not inspiration, 
claimed for Swedenborg, 51 ; and 
inspiration, how caused, 55 ; with 
spiritual man, 74, 75 ; insufficient 
for receiving new truths from the 
Lord, 76; light of truth according 
to the state of man's good, 84 ; 
according to the quality of truth, 
84 ; according to knowledges, 87 ; 
determined by knowledges of 
truth, 87, 88 ; while reading the 
Word, 89 ; its limit, 229 ; neces- 
sary for confirmation of doctrine, 
235 ; moral conditions of, 236 ; 
of laymen, 236 ; of ministers, 236. 

Inconsistency exposed, 54. 

Infallibility of humanreason 
discussed, 36. 

Influx, see Divine Truth. 

Inspiration, enjoyed by Swe- 
denborg while writing his works, 
133; extei-nal, of the prophets, 
133, 134 ; language of correspon- 
dences not necessarily inspired, 
r 36, 137; its definition, 139; an 
insertion into angelic societies, 
140 ; of Swedenborg's writings 
compared with that of the Word, 
141 ; concluding statement of 
Swedenborg on his, 152. 

Jesus Christ, Pontifex Maxi- 
mus, 249. 

Jews, have been preserved on 
account of the Word, 160, 163. 

Judah, tribe of, in the New 
Jerusalem, 209. 

Knowledges, recipient vessels 
of good and truth, 87 ; their defi- 
nition, 89. 

Knowledge, how it becomes 
truth, 123. 

Language, follows in order 
from thought, 135 ; of correspon- 



268 



INDEX. 



dences not necessarily inspired, 
137 ; of angels, its nature, 138. 

Law, in a land, 8 ; supreme 
authority, 8; in the Church, 9, 11. 

Law, Divine, its administra- 
tors, 11 ; for the New Church, 13. 

L.A.YMEN, their relation to the 
ministry, 240 ; when in a state of 
perception, 241 ; when obstruc- 
tive, 251. 

Letter, Swedenborg's, to Uni- 
versities, 248. 

Majorities not infallible, 244 ; 
their rule, 245. 

Man, no, can reach Sweden- 
borg's perception, 81 ; elevation 
of natural mind on earth, 80 ; 
while thinking, 237, 239 ; while 
hearing or reading, 237, 239 ; 
his will no authority in the Church, 
244; his will, evil by nature, 245. 

Members of the Church, their 
duties, 12. 

Memorable relations written 
by command, 40. 

Memory, nothing enters, with- 
out reflection, 222. 

Men of the Church, twofold, 
214. 

Mind, degrees in human. 60. 

Ministers, twofold, 214; their 
illustration, 217; their use to di- 
gest doctrinals into one, 233 ; 
their illustration, 236, 238 ; must 
teach according to doctrine of their 
Church, 237 ; importance of or- 
dination, 238 ; truth instilled only 
by teaching ministers, 240 ; not 
infallible, 240 ; when in obscurity, 
240 ; no authority inherently in, 
242 ; when bad shepherds, 242 ; 
when good shepherds, 242 ; lean- 
ing on men, 245 ; not the Lord's 
vicarii on earth, 249 ; their power 
in Conferenc< 
structive, 252. 



Natural Science and New 
Church, 42, 47. 

Natural facts and natural 
truths, 46. 

New Church, has it a law? 
10; the law for, 13 ; doctrine of, 
not human, but Divine, 15 ; doc- 
trine of, descended out of heaven, 
18; authority of, 21, 22 ; doctrines 
of, not a third Word, 24 ; interior 
Divine truths revealed for, 202 ; 
doctrine in, to be collected from the 
spiritual sense, 202 ; internal sense 
discovered solely for, 203 ; estab- 
lished among those of a spiritual 
genius, 207 ; will contain not only 
spiritual, but celestial, 208 ; in the 
beginning is external and natural, 
209; the dangers which beset the, 
252; will be established by means 
of clergy, 252. 

New Churchmen, their first 
duty, 229 ; their second duty, 232 ; 
safe from evil spirits, when? 253 ; 
troubled by contradictions in the 
writings, when? 254. 

New Jerusalem, its descent, 
what it signifies, 18. 

New Jerusale?n Alessenger cor- 
rected, 153. 

Nunc licet ! what it means, 177. 

Objection to a "third Word," 
24. 

Objections, to the knowledge 
of faith, 187; indefinite, 187. 

Obscuration of the under- 
standing, 220. 

Obstructiveness, 251. 

Order, defined, 1 ; in the hu- 
man body, 1 ; the condition of our 
creation, 2 : the Lord is, 2 ; per- 
verted, 7 ; law necessary for, 1 1 . 

Ordination, its importance, 
238. 

Perception, caused by con- 
junction of mediate and immediate 



INDEX. 



269 



influx, 72 ; and illustration, dif- 
ference, 74 ; only respecting 
what is known and believed, 87 ; 
while reading the Word, 86 ; 
according to truths in man's 
understanding, 88 ; of Sweden- 
borg, 10 1 ; seems incompatible 
with freedom and rationality, 
117. 

Preaching, dogmatic, 192 ; 
must be according to doctrine, 
238. 

Priests, considered as sources 
of authority, 8 ; administrators of 
Divine Law, 1 1 ; not exempt 
from law, 12. 

Printer's errors in Sweden- 
borg's writings, 143. 

Rationality, defined, 221. • 
Reason, as an authority, 33 ; 
and the law in the Church, 34, 36 ; 
insufficient in spiritual matters, 35 ; 
its infallibility examined, 36; equi- 
valent to man's own thought, 36 ; 
and reason itself difference, 36; 
not superior to doctrine, 37 ; its 
cause, 109 ; Divine Truth out of 
its reach, 174; must bow to Di- 
vine teaching, 1 74 ; to acknow- 
ledge Divine truth, first thing of, 
175 ; no doctrine from, 181 ; not 
to be trusted, 182 ; can never 
comprehend Divine things, 182 ; 
not consulted in the doctrine of 
faith, 182 ; the beginning not from 
reason, but from the truths of faith, 
183, 185 ; its use not forbidden in 
Divine things, 220 ; definition, 
221 ; limitation of, 221 ; no spiri- 
tual progress without, 222 ; no 
truth received without rational 
idea, 222 ; cannot produce truth, 
226 ; position of, in New Church, 
228; transgresses its limits, when? 
229. 

Reasoning, impedes reception 
of truth, 176; is doubting and 



denying, 187; concerning Divine 
things, 220. 

Reflection, its use, 222. 

Regeneration, its beginning 
an affirmative state, 183. 

Respiration, nature of Swe- 
denborg's, 95. 

Revelation, internal and ex- 
ternal, 68; from perception and 
from speech, 68 ; external not 
superior to internal, 69; of inter- 
nal sense to Swedenborg, 69; from 
illustration, described, 74, 75 ; 
from perception, described, 77 ; 
knowledge of internal sense neces- 
sary for, 122 ; according to the 
state of man's knowledges, 128 ; 
of Swedenborg, and the prophets', 
132. 

Roman Catholics, secret of 
the power of, 6. 

Royal power and law, 11. 

Scepticism, charge of, made 
against Swedenborg, 59. 

Scientifics, basis of truth, 
222 ; when necessary for belief, 
230 ; confirm truth, how ? 234 ; 
become transparent by corres- 
pondences, 235 ; their nature, 235. 

Scriptural proof, what is it? 
178. 

Scruples, how to remove there, 
48. 

" Seed sown by the wayside," 
189. 

Sense, impressions of, stored 
up in corporeal memory, 211. 

Sermons, their use, 216; how 
to prepare them, 216. 

Sight of understanding and of 
body, 218. 

Spiritual and natural things, 
their relation, 43. 

Spiritual Diary, is from the 
Lord alone, 104 ; its nature, 147 ; 
written from the Lord, 148, 149 ; 
Swedenborg's state while writing 



270 



INDEX. 



it, 148 ; why not published by him, 
149. 

Subordination, in human 
body, I ; among ministers, 7. 

Swedenborg, his relation to 
the Lord's Second Coming, 16; 
was inspired, 17 ; books of, writ- 
ten by the Lord through him, 18 ; 
mission of, defined, 39 ; natural 
facts of, adopted by the Lord, 
45 ; argument against inspiration 
of, 52 ; Divine Truth not tinged 
on entering his mind, 62 ; received 
internal revelation, 69 ; his in- 
spiration described, 70 ; was inter- 
nally inspired, 70 ; mediate and 
immediate influx conjoined in him, 
72 ; to what extent, 76 ; was in a 
state of good, 77 ; had perception 
of the Lord's mediate and im- 
mediate influx, 78 ;■ was raised 
above his sensual, even to his 
rational degree, 78 ; saw the Lord 
as a sun, 79 ; experienced a change 
of state into the celestial kingdom 
in an image, 79 ; was separated 
from his body as to his intellectual, 
but not as to his will, part, 80; 
his perception was unique, 81 ; 
his exceptional state, 82 ; influence 
of regeneration on his perception 
82 ; the Lord by internal in- 
spiration communicated truth to, 
83 ; the Lord's influx into his in- 
ternal thought, 106, 107; how the 
Lord governed his external 
thought, 108; mediate influx into 
his understanding, 109; immediate 
influx from the Lord into his affec- 
tions, 1 10 ; was kept by the Lord 
out of evil, 1 10 ; was led uncon- 
sciously by the Lord, III; parti- 
cular influx into, 1 12, 1 13; his 
freedom and rationality, 1 14; was 
controlled by the Lord as to his 
internal and external thought, 120 ; 
reception of doctrines of the in- 
ternal sense from the Lord, 121 ; 



acquired the knowledge of corre- 
spondences, how? 122; his know- 
ledge became truth, how? 123; 
acquired spiritual knowledge, 124 ; 
was introduced into natural science 
by the Lord, 124 ; by opening of 
spiritual sight acquired a know- 
ledge of internal sense, 126 ; was 
introduced to biblical personages, 
126, 127; was not imposed upon 
by spirits, 127 ; the revelation of 
internal sense dependent on state 
of his knowledge, 128; by degrees 
the revelation of the internal sense 
with him became deeper, 129; 
truth independent of state of good- 
ness with, 83 ; necessity of re- 
generation of, 85 ; three factors 
prepare him for his mission, 90 ; 
his illumination rested on internal, 
not on external, grounds, 91 ; im- 
portance of the opening of his 
spiritual sight, 92, 93 ; had to be 
taken out of the perverted Chris- 
tian Church, 93, 94; was illumi- 
nated by the Lord more proxi- 
mately, 94 ; his respiration, 95 ; 
before his spiritual sight was fully 
opened, 96, 97 : his spiritual sight 
was opened gradually, 96, 97 ; 
date of opening of his spiritual 
sight, 97 ; his perception before 
his spiritual sight was opened, 
100 ; his perception after his spiri- 
tual sight was opened, IOI ; had a 
double plane of thought, 102, 103 ; 
was in a state of inspiration from 
the Lord while among the angels 
of heaven, 104 ; what he learned 
from spirits and angels from the 
Lord alone, 104 ; wrote from the 
Lord, 105 ; had sensitive reflec- 
tion, to which perception was ad- 
joined, 106 ; while receiving the 
internal sense was in a state of 
reflection, 129 ; internal process 
when writing the doctrines of the 
internal sense, 130 ; wrote his 



INDEX. 



271 



theological works from the Lord, 
131 ; particulars of his state when 
writing his works from the Lord, 

131 ; wrote by internal dictation 
from the Lord Himself, 132 ; the 
spirits were silent while he wrote, 

132 ; while writing his works in a 
state of inspiration, 133; extent of 
influence of" his personal state on 
his inspiration, 134, 135 ; his in- 
spiration extended to the very 
words he wrote, 135 ; books of, 
are the Lord's works, 136 ; his 
language when conversing with 
angels, 139; when in a state of 
inspiration, was inserted into 
angelic societies, 140, 141 ; pre- 
pared two copies of his writings, 
why ? 142 ; sentences and para- 
graphs crossed out in his writings, 
why? 142; while writing the 
Arcana and the T. C. R., 144; 
had to accommodate himself to the 
state of his readers, 146, 147; as a 
translator of Scripture, 155 ; con- 
demns the existing translations of 
Scripture, 170, 171 ; writings of, 
are the Lord's Advent, 255. 

Thought, necessity of man's 
exercising his, 223. 

Translation (what makes a 
genuine), 156. 

Translators of the Word 
must know internal sense, 169. 

Tree of knowledge of good and 
evil, eating from, 231. 

Truth, does not appear until 
fallacies are dispersed, 176; the 
rational faculty must not be con- 
sulted respecting Divine Truths, 
182 ; first sensuous, then scientific, 
finally doctrinal, 210; non-con- 
tradictory, 218; founded on scien- 
tifics, 222 ; not derived from scien- 
tifics, 226 ; ought not to be im- 
pugned by doubts, 186 ; spiritual 
truth may be comprehended just 



as well as natural truth, 189 ; all 
truth coheres, 232. 

Truths of faith, what are they ? 
190 ; two ways of procuring them, 
212. 

Truth (Divine), how mediate 
Divine Truth is derived from 
immediate, 56 ; it proceeds im- 
mediately and mediately, 56 ; the 
only substance, 56 ; various de- 
grees of mediate truth, 57; is 
accommodated to all the states of 
men, 58 ; does not receive a tinge 
on entering human minds, 59 ; 
how it is affected on entering 
human minds, 61 ; influx of im- 
mediate and mediate Divine Truth 
into the human mind, 63 ; man 
unconscious of immediate influx, 
64 ; its influx into man's will and 
into his understanding, 65 ; im- 
mediate Divine Truth, its nature, 
65 ; mediate influx is general and 
particular, 66 ; summary of teach- 
ing respecting, 66 ; influx before 
and after regeneration, 67 ; con- 
junction of mediate and immediate 
influx, 71 ; conjunction of these 
two influxes different in the differ- 
ent heavens, 73 ; this conjunction 
takes place in good, 85 ; on flow- 
ing from the higher into the lower 
heavens is changed into corre- 
spondences, 137 ; is above human 
reason, 174. 

Understanding, two ways to 
it, 118. 

Word, the internal sense of, 
dictated out of heaven, 17 ; literal 
sense the body, internal sense the 
spirit, 21, 22, 199; relation 
between internal and external 
sense, 22 ; the Lord present in 
spiritual sense, 22 ; letter serves 
the spirit, 24 ; adding and taking 
away from, 25 ; can be under- 



272 



IXDEX. 



stood only by doctrine, 29 ; in- 
ternal sense equivalent with doc- 
trine of New Church, 29 ; literal 
sense not annihilated by spiritual 
sense, 51 ; internal sense the es- 
sential Word of God, 31, 200: 
vivified in mind of man. 32, 198 ; 
letter of, effects conjunction 
with heaven, 32 ; degrees in, 57 ; 
letter communicated by external 
revelation, internal sense by in- 
ternal revelation, 69 ; doctrine 
serves as a lamp for understand- 
ing, 88 ; the internal sense known 
in the other life, 88 ; revela- 
tion of internal sense impossible 
without opening of spiritual sight, 
S9 ; revelation of the internal 
sense, and acquisition of its know- 
ledge, 121 ; internal sense cannot 
be revealed without knowledge of 
it, 122 ; Swedenborg's translation 
of Scripture impugned, 156; con- 
junction with heaven by the cor- 
respondences in the letter of the 
Word, 157; the use of, two- 
fold, 157 ; power of, resides in 
fulness in the original text, 158 ; 
power of, in the Hebrew lan- 
guage, 158, 159; in the original 
Hebrew effects conjunction with 
celestial angels, 159 ; in translated 



copies effects conjunction with 
heaven by the meaning of the words, 
1 60 ; importance of a correct trans- 
lation of, 161 ; each of its parts 
connected with a particular society 
of heaven, 162 ; instances of false 
translation in, 165 ; power of, 
impaired, how? 164 ; power of, 
impaired by false translations, 
165 ; translators of, must know 
internal sense, 169; existing trans- 
lations of, condemned in general 
by Swedenborg,- 170, 171 ; ac- 
knowledgment of its truths com- 
patible with reason, 175 ; literal 
sense not holy when separated 
from internal sense, 178; literal 
sense may be turned in various 
directions, 179 ; the letter dead, 
without the internal sense, 201 ; 
internal sense discovered solely 
for those of the New Church, 
203 ; internal sense revealed once 
for all through Swedenborg, 203 ; 
spiritual sense cannot be seen from 
correspondences only, 215 ; power 
of, in the sense of the letter, 216. 
Writing (danger of) on spiri- 
tual subjects, 239, 241. 

Zebulon, its signification, 230. 



[UIK AND PATERSOX, PRINTERS, EDINBURGH. 



